Merry Christmas everyone! Braden and I had lots of fun and I want to share it with everyone. The following is mostly a copy of the email I send to my parents about our Christmas activities :). Enjoy! On Christmas Eve in the morning we opened our presents. My parents sent me a whole bunch of American candy, it was AWESOME. I also got some candy from a friend of mine in Ellensburg who sent me a package so in all we had a ton of yummy American candy XD. I also got a package from my clients in Ellensburg. They sent me some cards, drawings, and a couple of home made ornaments, and a big glass cup that they had decorated, they were all very cute :). After opening the presents we picked up our Christmas cake and went shopping, then we rested a bit since we had gone to the temple the day before and we got back kinda late. Then Ed came and together we visited the Shimane Art Museum. One of Braden`s teachers, who is also one of my Japanese teachers, gave us two tickets to the museum that she had bought, but she didn`t have time to go so she gave them to us, which I thought was super nice :). The art exhibit we saw was really cool, there were lots of beautiful ceramics, kimonos, and wooden dolls. It was a special exhibit especially for traditional japanese crafts, but all the art was modern (as in it was all made recently, but they were all in the traditional japanese style, some with a modern twist.) There was one section that had some absolutely beautiful vases and dishes, but there was one dish in the middle that was very simple and black and very modern looking (modern as in modern art that no one understands, hehe), we thought it was kinda funny cause it really seemed to clash with the colorful and elegant ceramics around it, lol. It was a really nice exhibit. After that Ed drove us to Izumo and we met up with one of his coworkers and some friends and went to a restaurant\bar called an `izakaya`. Its basically a restaurant made especially for drinking parties, which the Japanese have a lot, hehe. They serve unlimited refills of a variety of drinks including a selection of non-alcoholic ones. We were told that all bars are required to serve non-alcoholic drinks as well, for the designated drivers. Apparently the blood/alcohol limit for drunk driving in Japan is EXTREMELY strict, so designated drivers can`t drink at all, not even a little bit, cause if they`re caught driving with even the slightest bit of alcohol in their blood they`ll be arrested. Anyway, they also serve food at these places, but they are appetizer-type dishes, and they bring out a different one every ten to fifteen to minutes while everyone is drinking and chatting. Ed is mormon too, so he, Braden, and I drank soda and ginger ale while his other friends drank, and we just talked and had a good time eating food. It was pretty expensive, but Ed (who has a full time job, and who`s also really nice) paid for Braden and I (It cost about 35 dollars per person to go there. Personally I think they ought to give non drinkers a discount, since its only the drinkers who are consuming the expensive stuff! :P). After dinner we went to Karaoke! I don`t know many Japanese songs so I usually just sing the English ones, but its always really fun, there`s a nice sound system in each room and you can adjust the lighting and everything the way you want it, and you can get free drinks (soda and tea, and even hot cocoa!). After karaoke we went back to Ed`s place and ate lots of candy and played video games ;).The next morning I made pancakes :D. And we had peanut butter with them :). One of the elders who was serving in Matsue recently had two big jars of peanut butter, and when he was transferred he left his peanut butter, so the new elder and his companion gave us one of his jars for Christmas. It was imported Skippy peanut butter, woot! They sell peanut cream in Japan, but peanut butter is not very common. I haven`t had peanut cream but I`ve heard its pretty different from peanut butter. Its more of a dessert thing I think. Anywho, after eating breakfast I called home (Which was awesome! Especially since Lacey and all of her family was there, it was awesome to see them :).) After that we did Karaoke again, lol. This time we went with some different friends of Ed`s (He had been invited to two different Karaoke parties and he brought us along both times). After Karaoke we went and had dinner with his friends. We all contributed some food (Braden and I brought cake and I made some Hayashi rice), Kim made macaroni and cheese (with some velveta cheese that her parents had mailed to her) and instant mashed potatoes (also from Americam hehe), Ed made eggrolls and chicken, Robert (who`s from Ireland) brought Irish pudding (He even prepared it in the traditional way. He poured whiskey on top and lit it on fire! He cut a couple pieces out for Ed, Braden, and I first though ;).), and Ed`s Japanese friends brought a tray of Japanese food with shrimp and chicken and veggies, and some crackers and dip. During dinner we watched Charlie Brown and Elf (in English with Japanese subtitles). After dinner we had the Irish pudding and Christmas cake, then we played some card games. After the party Ed took Braden and I to the rental store and we rented some anime and watched it till about three in the morning XD. We watched about a third of the remake of Neon Genesis Evangelion (a really strange show but pretty interesting, and extremely famous here in Japan. I see stuff with Neon Genesis Evangelion on it ALL the time, hehe.) We also watched a little bit of a show called Mae Hime, which is a pretty light hearted action comedy. The next morning Ed drove us home, we went to church (and I managed to stay awake the whole time amazingly enough XD), got lots of Christmas presents from the ward members (including a couple of really nice sweaters, a small ham and some fruit, and even a toaster oven! The toaster oven is from a couple who are moving to Hawaii in a couple weeks to attend BYU-Hawaii, so they gave us their toaster :).). After church we hurried to pack and do laundry, and almost missed our bus to Shiga XD. It was really close! Braden and I forgot to check the local bus schedule to the highway bus station, and we thought we were gonna be late so we called a member and asked her for a ride, and so she and her husband hurried us to the station and we got their RIGHT before our bus pulled up. Whew. We SO owe her and her husband lol. We rode the bus for about four and a half hours and got to Shiga where Hiroko picked us up and drove us to her house. We just kinda relaxed the first day we were here, and today we helped her with the traditional end-of-year cleaning that the Japanese do, then we went to her grandparents house and had a HUGE dinner of Sukiyaki (basically I bunch of meat and veggies boiled in a pot with sugar and soy sauce and a few other things. It`s really good!). Anywho, that was our Christmas! (Plus a couple days after.) Its been busy but super fun! For New Year`s we`re gonna eat lots of traditional Japanese food. I`ll tell you all about it later! Anyway, this post was long, but I hope you enjoyed it XD.Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Dec. 28th
Merry Christmas everyone! Braden and I had lots of fun and I want to share it with everyone. The following is mostly a copy of the email I send to my parents about our Christmas activities :). Enjoy! On Christmas Eve in the morning we opened our presents. My parents sent me a whole bunch of American candy, it was AWESOME. I also got some candy from a friend of mine in Ellensburg who sent me a package so in all we had a ton of yummy American candy XD. I also got a package from my clients in Ellensburg. They sent me some cards, drawings, and a couple of home made ornaments, and a big glass cup that they had decorated, they were all very cute :). After opening the presents we picked up our Christmas cake and went shopping, then we rested a bit since we had gone to the temple the day before and we got back kinda late. Then Ed came and together we visited the Shimane Art Museum. One of Braden`s teachers, who is also one of my Japanese teachers, gave us two tickets to the museum that she had bought, but she didn`t have time to go so she gave them to us, which I thought was super nice :). The art exhibit we saw was really cool, there were lots of beautiful ceramics, kimonos, and wooden dolls. It was a special exhibit especially for traditional japanese crafts, but all the art was modern (as in it was all made recently, but they were all in the traditional japanese style, some with a modern twist.) There was one section that had some absolutely beautiful vases and dishes, but there was one dish in the middle that was very simple and black and very modern looking (modern as in modern art that no one understands, hehe), we thought it was kinda funny cause it really seemed to clash with the colorful and elegant ceramics around it, lol. It was a really nice exhibit. After that Ed drove us to Izumo and we met up with one of his coworkers and some friends and went to a restaurant\bar called an `izakaya`. Its basically a restaurant made especially for drinking parties, which the Japanese have a lot, hehe. They serve unlimited refills of a variety of drinks including a selection of non-alcoholic ones. We were told that all bars are required to serve non-alcoholic drinks as well, for the designated drivers. Apparently the blood/alcohol limit for drunk driving in Japan is EXTREMELY strict, so designated drivers can`t drink at all, not even a little bit, cause if they`re caught driving with even the slightest bit of alcohol in their blood they`ll be arrested. Anyway, they also serve food at these places, but they are appetizer-type dishes, and they bring out a different one every ten to fifteen to minutes while everyone is drinking and chatting. Ed is mormon too, so he, Braden, and I drank soda and ginger ale while his other friends drank, and we just talked and had a good time eating food. It was pretty expensive, but Ed (who has a full time job, and who`s also really nice) paid for Braden and I (It cost about 35 dollars per person to go there. Personally I think they ought to give non drinkers a discount, since its only the drinkers who are consuming the expensive stuff! :P). After dinner we went to Karaoke! I don`t know many Japanese songs so I usually just sing the English ones, but its always really fun, there`s a nice sound system in each room and you can adjust the lighting and everything the way you want it, and you can get free drinks (soda and tea, and even hot cocoa!). After karaoke we went back to Ed`s place and ate lots of candy and played video games ;).The next morning I made pancakes :D. And we had peanut butter with them :). One of the elders who was serving in Matsue recently had two big jars of peanut butter, and when he was transferred he left his peanut butter, so the new elder and his companion gave us one of his jars for Christmas. It was imported Skippy peanut butter, woot! They sell peanut cream in Japan, but peanut butter is not very common. I haven`t had peanut cream but I`ve heard its pretty different from peanut butter. Its more of a dessert thing I think. Anywho, after eating breakfast I called home (Which was awesome! Especially since Lacey and all of her family was there, it was awesome to see them :).) After that we did Karaoke again, lol. This time we went with some different friends of Ed`s (He had been invited to two different Karaoke parties and he brought us along both times). After Karaoke we went and had dinner with his friends. We all contributed some food (Braden and I brought cake and I made some Hayashi rice), Kim made macaroni and cheese (with some velveta cheese that her parents had mailed to her) and instant mashed potatoes (also from Americam hehe), Ed made eggrolls and chicken, Robert (who`s from Ireland) brought Irish pudding (He even prepared it in the traditional way. He poured whiskey on top and lit it on fire! He cut a couple pieces out for Ed, Braden, and I first though ;).), and Ed`s Japanese friends brought a tray of Japanese food with shrimp and chicken and veggies, and some crackers and dip. During dinner we watched Charlie Brown and Elf (in English with Japanese subtitles). After dinner we had the Irish pudding and Christmas cake, then we played some card games. After the party Ed took Braden and I to the rental store and we rented some anime and watched it till about three in the morning XD. We watched about a third of the remake of Neon Genesis Evangelion (a really strange show but pretty interesting, and extremely famous here in Japan. I see stuff with Neon Genesis Evangelion on it ALL the time, hehe.) We also watched a little bit of a show called Mae Hime, which is a pretty light hearted action comedy. The next morning Ed drove us home, we went to church (and I managed to stay awake the whole time amazingly enough XD), got lots of Christmas presents from the ward members (including a couple of really nice sweaters, a small ham and some fruit, and even a toaster oven! The toaster oven is from a couple who are moving to Hawaii in a couple weeks to attend BYU-Hawaii, so they gave us their toaster :).). After church we hurried to pack and do laundry, and almost missed our bus to Shiga XD. It was really close! Braden and I forgot to check the local bus schedule to the highway bus station, and we thought we were gonna be late so we called a member and asked her for a ride, and so she and her husband hurried us to the station and we got their RIGHT before our bus pulled up. Whew. We SO owe her and her husband lol. We rode the bus for about four and a half hours and got to Shiga where Hiroko picked us up and drove us to her house. We just kinda relaxed the first day we were here, and today we helped her with the traditional end-of-year cleaning that the Japanese do, then we went to her grandparents house and had a HUGE dinner of Sukiyaki (basically I bunch of meat and veggies boiled in a pot with sugar and soy sauce and a few other things. It`s really good!). Anywho, that was our Christmas! (Plus a couple days after.) Its been busy but super fun! For New Year`s we`re gonna eat lots of traditional Japanese food. I`ll tell you all about it later! Anyway, this post was long, but I hope you enjoyed it XD.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Dec. 21st
Sorry everyone for taking so long to update :P. We haven't done anything too exciting or unusual the past couple weeks, but we did have an elaborate fire drill the other day. The Fire Department came and everything! They taught us about basic fire safety and fire prevention, and since we're all foreigners they wanted to be sure we all knew the Japanese emergency phone number (119 - easy to remember since its just like ours only backwards!) They also taught us all how to use fire extinguishers and let us use ones full of water to practice. Then they showed us how to use the emergency escape pully system on the third floor of the apartment complex (Since there's only one staircase, they have a getaway rope and pully system for those on the third floor in case the fire's on the stairs. I guess the second floor people just have to jump! Its not too far though, they'll be fine.... ;P). Anywho, the Japanese are all very organized about this sort of thing. They even have a panel in the office that shows you which fire alarms have gone off so you can see where the fire is. The fire truck, as you can see, is the familiar red color we all know. The ambulances are about the same too, except they TALK. Lol. Yeah, they do. The other day when Braden and I were out riding our bikes, an ambulance approached the intersection we were about to cross with its lights blaring. In addition to the siren, there was a loud computerized voice coming from some loud speakers, and it was saying that the ambulance was going to turn right. It probably speaks whenever the driver uses the turning signal, I imagine. Anyway, I thought it was pretty cool. Lots of stuff in Japan talks. The buses, some of the signs at bus stops (they tell you when the bus is near, which is pretty cool), the elevators, escalators, even the buttons you press to use the crosswalk! Its all pretty advanced. And yet here I am in a Japanese computer lab using a Windows XP computer with an old browser and an even older ball mouse. What's wrong with this picture?! Lol.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Dec. 8th
Last weekend Braden and I went to Vogel Park, a park in Matsue that has a humongous garden and a large collection of exotic birds. It was lots of fun, and the birds were really cool. In one room the birds were free to roam and mingle with guests. In the picture you can see one approaching me. It was kinda scary! Lol, I get a little nervous around big birds, I always think they`re gonna bite me or something! They also had lots of cool owls, and even a few really big birds, like emus and ostriches, and another big bird with a really wierd beak that made it look just like a dinosaur! It was crazy. We joked with our friends that took us that the power was gonna go out and the bird would escape and come after us just like Jurassic Park. Lol, it was funny. The garden was neat too, hundreds of different kinds of flowers and fancy bushes, and we had ice cream cones that were Begonia and Fuschia flavored 0_o. They actually tasted pretty good. The flower taste was pretty subtle, mostly it just tasted like delicious cream and sugar, hehe. Today Braden and I ordered a Christmas cake at the grocery store. A yummy white cake with strawberries on top, yum :). I can`t wait to try it. Tonight we`re having dinner with a couple who goes to church with us; they`re gonna make oden apparently, which I had in the school cafeteria once, it was pretty good, I wonder what homemade oden is like? Guess I`ll find out soon :).Saturday, December 4, 2010
Dec. 4th
Wow, is it really December already? o_0. I guess time flies when you're having fun :). I decided to post a pic of the Christmas Tree Braden and I bought. It was just a small cheap tree, but I think it turned out really cute :). We haven't been able to afford any other decorations beside the tree :P. Oh well, the tree's one of the most important decorations anyway, right? Course, having a nativity would be nice too, but I can't find one anywhere! No surprise there :P. Alot of Japanese people celebrate Christmas, but just the gift giving part of it, and they eat Christmas Cake (a fancy white cake that usually has strawberries on top. They're always really pretty). Except for Christian Japanese (most being Shinto or Buddhist) there is no mention of the religious side of Christmas. I guess I'll have to make my own Nativity. That might be kinda fun actually. This week for a Relief Society Activity (Relief Society activities are when all the ladies from church get together and do stuff) we are having a flower arranging lesson, and we're going to do a Christmas arrangement, that should be fun. For Christmas Braden and I will probably stay in Matsue and maybe get together with some friends, then for New Years we're going to take a bus to Shiga and celebrate it with a friend over there. I'm looking forward to it, despite it being a long bus ride away. The sun is shining today, its nice, especially after the weather yesterday. It was rainy, windy, and there was lots of thunder and lightning 0_o. Today is much nicer :). We haven't seen any snow yet, we probably won't see any till January or February. In other news, Braden and I are not going to be able to go to the Kyokushin Dojo here anymore, we decided that we simply can't afford it right now, especially after having to pay CWU back for a previous grant mistake that they made :P. Plus, I thought that we were getting a check in January (like we did earlier this year while Braden was at CWU) but I guess this time we're on a two semester payment system and we don't get any more money till April, so we gotta make what we have last. Thankfully I did find a part time job (as an english tutor), and although right now I only have one student (so I'm being paid very little) I may get more students as time goes by and earn more money. So, yeah, that's what's going on with us lately :P. Anyway, hope everyone else is doing well. We love you and miss you all!!!
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