Nagoya Matsuri

Hey, Braden here. Finally updating this blog for the first time in awhile. Since I last updated here, I've worked a part time job at the Genki Sushi up on broadway in Seattle, serving sushi to college students and gay guys (one asked for my number), worked in the warehouse of K Line Logistics, a Japanese shipping company for a year and a half, lifting heavy bozex and driving a forklift around, Melissa and I had our first baby Clara who is now a year and 2 months (3 months?), and I got a job as a CIR translating stuff for Aichi prefecture in the city of Nagoya through the JET program. It has been quite a ride the past few years.

Here is a video of baby chan watching a lamp display during Nagoya Matsuri this last Saturday. Near the end you can hear her yelling with the guys pushing the display.

Here's another video of the Matsuri with Samurai riding by on horseback.

Work has been quite interesting here at the Aichi Prefectural office in Nagoya. I translate several things throughout each month as well as volunteer in the community. Recently I've been volunteering with the Aichi prefectural police department in mock foreigner interrogations. Those are pretty fun. I get to pretend I'm a foreigner living in Japan who stole a can of beer from a Japanese convenience store and then punched out the store manager and escaped when the store manager tried to stop me. It's pretty fun to do. The organizers asked me to act very rude and deny all charges adamantly, which I'm more than happy to do :D. Well, that's it for tonight. I'll try to update more along with Melissa
Peace out crackas!

Meat Loaf

Today I had a hankering for my mom's homemade meatloaf. I have the recipe, but there was one problem. I don't have a conventional oven. Japanese apartments don't come with one, or even a hook up for one. If Japanese people want to bake they buy a small toaster-oven size electric oven. I do have a gas stove, and underneath the range there is a very small gas oven. Big enough for grilling small fish or even toasting a slice of bread, but there's no way I could cook a meatloaf in it. I was about to put all thoughts of delicious meatloaf from my mind when I came up with a brilliant idea. Use my mother's meatloaf recipe to make Japanese style Hambagu! (Hambagu is a Japanese western-inspired dish that consists of a hamburger patty with gravy). I got the ingredients at the store today, made the meatloaf, shaped it into patties and fried it in a pan and Voila! My mother's meatloaf! I was so happy. I should've taken a picture but I am a very lazy photographer and now it's too late. We ate it all in all its delicious glory. And now I must go for my daughter has figured out how to open the cupboard in the bedroom where I keep her clothes and is throwing them all around for me to pick up. Silly girl. ;)

Clara and Balloons

Yesterday we went to the local department store to do some grocery shopping and decided to let Clara go to the play place (It costs 300 yen for 1 hour. About $3). It's a pretty nice little place. They have a ball pit, a bouncy house, a room full of balloons and fans blowing them all over the place (featured in the video), a carnival ride type spinning tube, some simple moving stuffed animals, and a small merry go round type thing with cushions the kiddos can ride on. Anywho, Clara's favorite thing to do is grab a ball from the ball pit and carry it around, or take a balloon from the balloon room and carry it around, or hug the stuffed animals. There are always lots of older, hyper kids running around that I have to watch out for so they don't accidentally knock clara down, but so far that hasn't happened. There was also another little girl Clara's age in the play space that day, and at one point Clara offered her a ball from the ball pit, then offered one to her mom, then one to her dad, it was all very cute. Everyone here always tells us how cute Clara is. She stands out since she's the only white baby in town (at least the only one I've seen) and she gets complimented every day. I hope it doesn't all go to her head XD.

Back to Blogging!

Back by popular demand (of our families), heeeeeere's Melissa and Braden's blog! So we're back in Japan, this time in the city of Nagoya, about as far removed from good ole' country living as you can get. I miss Matsue a lot, but living in the city does have its perks, like close daycare centers, a department store a couple blocks away, and... um... I'm sure I'll think of some more reasons to like the city in a moment. Anywho, I hope to update this little thingy with updates on how we're doing, pics (especially of the baby chan :D) and maybe some helpful information about living and working in Japan for those of you who may be interested in coming here. I'll keep my first entry short, but not to worry, I shall update it soon.