Kasahata Children's Home

Last Sunday I visited the Kasata Children's Home, an orphanage/foster care home where about 30 Japanese children live. We went for a Valentine's Day party which was an incredible time. The kids were great- really genki (excited) and lots of fun to play with. But, at the same time, it got me thinking about Japan.

Japan has very few orphans. In fact, the population rate has drastically dropped from the 1970's. Previously, on average, couples were having 2.1 children. (how to handle that .1 I'm not too sure!) But, now the average birthrate is 1.1. So, in short, there are fewer couples having fewer children and orphans are not the country's greatest problem. It is creating a somewhat silmilar problem to what is seen in China- a whole generation without siblings.(ugh... one spoiled child is enough, but a whole generation?!?!) Now of course China has no option...the government took radical measures to try and slow the population problem. However, in Japan, the reasoning is obviously by choice. Cost of living is high, the island is overcrowded as it is, and who needs a second child when you can spoil a miniature poodle and dress it like Paris Hilton's pooch?

Obviously, though, we can see that orphans still exist, either those given up by families or removed from abusive or negligent parents. And, seeing these kids in the orphanage was rough. They were clearly starved for attention, which, can you blame them? They also really showed traits of scavenging, fighting, and being overly greedy with simple things. Now, let's be honest, ALL kids are scavengers and fighters and greedy. Okay, scratch that... all HUMANS are scavengers and fighters and greedy. I suppose it was just interesting to see how being an orphan affected these children's behavior. Some were very polite and others were rude. Some were standoffish and other wouldn't give an inch to breathe. But... despite the differences in each child's personality, like all flesh and blood humans the kids really just wanted to be loved.

We did what we could for 3 hours on a Sunday afternoon... I just hope someone can take them home and love them forever.

The Most Amazing Thing

I love my job, really. Part of the being on the JET program is that I am an assistant teacher, so although I teach the lessons, there is always a Japanese person who helps me translate or give directions. Most of my teachers are awesome people who speak English relatively well. Except for one teacher. Ito sensei. I'm not even sure you can call him a teacher. He doesn't ever have a lesson planned and most of the time the majority of the students are either asleep or text messaging unashamedly. It's pretty comical and depressing all at once.

So, every two weeks I have the pleasure of "teaching" with this man. Let me say in his defense, however, that although he is unorganized and weird and sometimes I question his personal hygiene- he is a sweet man at heart. It's just hard to see it. BUT... today in class we were reading about the cultural differences between America and Japan. One difference is that publicly blowing your nose in Japan is considered impolite.

NOTE: Let me just say also that in Japan, verbs are memorized in trios. "Sing, sang, sung," for example, teaching the present, past, past progressive (I think?!) tenses of a verb.

So anyway, back to blowing your nose, Ito sensei did the most amazing thing today. He began to explain the following verb conjugation pattern to the students...

"Blow, blew, blung."

I didn't have the heart to correct him, but I couldn't help but crack a smile. I mean, BLUNG?!?!

Gotta go- I haven't blung my nose is a while, I think it's time I did that.

English is a Girl's Best Friend....

As I rode on the train the other day I spotted this GEM of an advertisement. I couldn't help but snap a pic of it- it turns out English is a girl's new best friend.



Yes, folks, this add does in fact say,
"I want a soft, fluffy sweater,
I want shiny, glittering jewelry,
but what I really want is sparkling English skills."

Ha! I love it!

So Blue

My poor Seahawks have lost the Super Bowl. It's surely a sad day in Seattle. To all the Seattle-ites reading this blog, know that I was cheering for the Hawks from the other side of the globe. I must go and cry myself to sleep now. Hopefully my next post will be much cheerier.

Holla for the 'Hawks

The Seahawks are Superbowl bound.... holla! I keep wanting to sing that song from the movie Hardball (yeah, I know, with that excuse of an actor Keanu Reeves). "We're going to the 'ship... we're going to the 'ship." I'm sooo excited for them, and knowing a Seahawk or two makes it even more exciting. The time difference in Japan stinks to watch the game, so I've got a couple of options.

Option A. I stay out all night and watch the game at a sports bar in Tokyo at 4 in morning with who knows what kind of ruffians and hooligans out at that God-awful hour.

Option B. I pray that ITunes puts the game up for downloading and I stay in the comfort of my home with my pj's on and cheer for the team.

I'm kinda leaning toward Option A. I'll never have this kind of Super Bowl Party again, huh?! Let's hope they win it...

Sneaky Sneaky

Yesterday I called in sick to work. I woke up not feeling the greatest, but I wasn't deathly ill either. But... then... an idea hit me. It was approximately 10 am and I realized Jillian's friend Greg is visiting from New York, who said he would take me out to sushi. I mean, certainly I didn't feel like I could run a marathon but then again, who can turn down a sushi offer?!? So, he and I went out to lunch at the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo where we loaded up on fatty tuna (it was phat, too) and salmon as well as plenty other delectable treats from the sea. Oishii. Hontouni oishii. That's Japanese for: It was the bomb.

Then after lunch Greg and I went to Ueno Park to check out the Museum of Western Art. Kinda bizarre to be in the East and checking out Western art... but it was alright. And, it was cheap, so that's a plus. All in all it was a nice sick day. I was rested and rejuvenated for work today. I needed lots of sushi to replenish and reboot my system. Now I'm feeling good.

BUT.... just remember.... this is between me and you. Don't let the boss find out about my little excursion! Shhhhhhh!

Sapporo in the Snow

It speaks for itself...

Old Hokkaido

The second day of our trip we headed to Old Hokkaido, a village set up for visitors to check out what life in Hokkaido back in the day would have looked like. This building is the Hokkaido train station, no longer in use for trains but used in the village. We had an amazing time here. We went for a horse-drawn sleigh ride, tried cross country skiing and took many a tumble sledding. It was "sugary happiness melting inside." (As quoted from a Japanese comic describing elation)

Ramen Alley

Here's what I affectionately call Ramen Alley. You can only put up a restaurant that seats less than 10 people and serves only ramen. It's where we had dinner the first night in Hokkaido and it was so wonderful. We were tired and cold and being inside trying Hokkaido's miso ramen was a de-light.




See how much we are lovin' the ramen?!? No talking was allowed- just slurping.

The Snow Gallery

This is how the snow festival sculptures are made. Insanity! There are SO many people working to create the enormous pieces of artwork, it was incredible. The first day we arrived in Sapporo we checked out the creations and then two days later went back to see the progress. It was unbelievable. This scultpure is of a female Japanese golfer, Ai something-or-other, who is from Okinawa hence the palm trees and the tropical flowers. Imagine it, a huge block of snow carved to look like you. Forget the Wheaties box, people, just give me a huge snow sculpture.



This one... any ideas?

It's the Chronicles of Narnia. You can see the White Witch being pulled by the polar bears and in the background at the top is Azlan. (You can only see his head on the very far right corner of the pic) This one rocked my world- I was a big fan. There were also plenty of other sculptures- some of Japanese anime and others of the Melbourne Train Station. So, there was obvoiusly some variety to this snow show.