O Ye Mountains High

This a mountain of snow in a nearby parking lot.   This actually had melted considerably before I got the picture taken. Pretty impressive!
 But, as you can see, we do see blue sky occasionally now, so I think the worst is over.

We Have Internet!!!!!

Meet Brother Yamada.  Because of him, we finally, finally have Internet in our apartment.  Wahoo!  Hallelujah!  We are so grateful!

Most of my posts have been about wonderful Japanese people and customs.  We can take a lesson from them in so many ways, but (you knew a "but" was coming!) in some things, they are WAY behind.  One of them is Internet.  Oh my.  We started before we even got to Japan, trying to get Internet in our apartment.  We hoped it would be in when we got here.  Now, two and a half months later, we finally got it today.  I won't bore you with all of the details.  If I did, you would probably never read another post on here again because it would be so long and boring.  But I will give you the shortened version:

We tried two different companies, both of them (after a long, drawn-out process) telling us no, we can't have Internet because we weren't going to be here for two years and because we were foreigners (basically).  We about gave up then, but this kind, dear man who is a counselor in the mission presidency in Sendai went to bat for us and signed the contract (the ever-changing contract) and put the bill in his name.  So we finally got it ordered.

So, on the very worst possible day- right in the middle of a blizzard in January- two guys showed up and hooked our apartment up with a cable from a pole across the street. 

It's hard to see, but there's a guy up on that pole in a raging blizzard, underneath a piece of visqueen, hooking up the Internet.

                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Then we waited and waited and waited.  Then we got a notice telling us that we needed to respond immediately or the deal was off.  We had Brother Yamada call and got it going again.  They finally came and did the inside the apartment work on Monday.  We were thrilled.  But they don't just do it and set it up.  We had to go buy a router ($200) and then have spent two days trying to get it to work.  We had a couple of Japanese friends read the instructions and come and try to help us, but they couldn't do it either.  So we had to hire another guy(another $75) to come and actually get it going. 

Dear, dear Americans, be grateful for your Internet.  It's a blessing you probably haven't even been counting! 

So there's the saga!  Remember, that was the short version!!

The Orange: A Gift from the Heart

Japanese people are gift givers.  They are generous to a fault.  We have been given a lot of gifts in the two months since we've been here, but none that touched me more than this orange.

This dear sister has been my friend since the first day I was here.  She speaks pretty good English and interprets for me in Relief Society.  She doesn't drive, so always walks to church.  We have taken her home many times, and it's quite a ways to the church- probably a good 25 minute walk.  One day, she came to sacrament meeting.  After the meeting, I saw her look at me and kind of draw in her breath quickly.  She then disappeared.  She came in about an hour later just as Relief Society was starting.  She then pulled out of her bag this beautiful orange.  She presented it to me and explained that it came from the Mount Fuji region of Japan.  She said it was the last one left that still has the leaves on it.  I guess having the leaves on makes them extra special here.  I strongly suspect that she saved it for me and then forgot to bring it, so walked home and got it and walked back with it.  It was truly a gift of love from the heart.

Valentine's Day

 One of the things we have been asked to do here is be in charge of holiday parties at English classes (Eikaiwa.)  We have been asked to celebrate the American holidays on the week before those and prepare fun games and treats.  Japanese people love to party and it's a fun way to teach them about our culture.  We worked for weeks preparing for the Valentine's parties.

We made heart-shaped sugar cookies, (why are they pink? we were asked.  I guess they don't do food coloring here much and it was very hard to find.  When we did find it, it is a powder rather than liquid), cupcakes, brownies, homemade heart-shaped chocolates, crackers with cream cheese spread, chips and salsa, corn soup, and traditional Japanese party drinks.

All ready for the Tsuruoka party.

Do you love your neighbor?

You do the hokey pokey . . .

and you turn yourself around . . .

The next night, we partied at the Sakata eikaiwa. 

Here we are with the Endos (branch president and wife), Sister Endo (his mom), and Elder Hansen.  The Endos all brought delicious food, too.  It was a real feast.

Do you love your neighbor?

Dip, dip, dip

You put your right foot in . . .

You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around . .

We decided Valentine's Day was the perfect time to deliver goodie plates to some of our neighbors and less active friends in the branch.  Our kitchen was a "love factory" all week, churning out the goodies.  It's quite a challenge here as you can only bake 8 cookies at a time and there is only one pan, so the oven has to be reheated after each batch. 

Happy Valentine's Day from Japan!

My Doryo

 Love this guy!  He's my Doryo!  They tell me that's the word for companion, but I can't find it in my Japanese dictionary.  I guess it's a "church word."  But I like it.  They say their "r's" like "d's," so it's pronounced Dodyo.  I call him "Dode" for short.  He's a great companion and a great person.  He has great wisdom, is a great leader, is humble and spiritual, is a hard worker,

diligent,

My view most mornings and evenings as he diligently studies Japanese.

 really fun, and best of all, he makes me laugh every day . . . oh, and he does most of the dishes!

 Happy Valentine's Day, Dode!!!!!

The Genkon- Please Leave the World Outside

Every home in Japan has a genkon.  No, really, every home.  They vary in size and design, but they are an essential part of every home.  They are equivalent somewhat to our entry ways, but they serve a very important function.  Everyone who enters a home removes their shoes there.  Everyone.  Shoes are removed and often replaced by slippers there, and then you can enter the home.  Even when the delivery guys brought our new chairs, they removed their shoes as they stepped up into our apartment even though they were carrying a heavy chair. 

As I think about it, I find it to be a sweet custom.  The filth and dirt of the world are left outside and the sanctity of the home, preserved.  May we all be so wise!

Following are some pictures I've taken while out on my walks of genkons.  You'll see they vary in size and design, but not function:

This is ours to our apartment.  We sometimes pause to pray in our genkon before we go out into the world.  That's another way a genkon is a buffer between home and the real world.

Come, We That Love the Lord

There is a sweet custom here that really touches my heart.  Hymns and hymn singing are very important to the Japanese branch members.  Each Sunday, the organ is played during the hymns in sacrament meeting (I share the playing with another sister.)  But each of the other meetings are also started with a hymn:  Sunday school, Relief Society, Priesthood, missionary lessons, etc.  In those meetings, there is no accompaniment.  They are sung a Capella.  The teacher or leader posts the number of the hymn to be sung on the white board.  Then he or she points at a branch member.  It doesn’t seem to matter who, they just point to someone.  That person then looks at the hymn and sings the whole first line as a solo.  The purpose is to give the pitch, but it becomes this sweet little solo.  They don’t just sing the first line, they sing the whole first phrase.  For instance, they would sing, “We thank thee, O God, for a prophet, to guide us in these latter days.”  Then, the leader or teacher says, “San, Hai (which means 3, yes!  So it’s like they are saying 1, 2, 3, yes, but they just skip the 1 and 2)” then everyone comes in on the pitch chosen by that person and everyone sings the whole hymn together a Capella.  Now think of that happening in America.  My guess is the majority of the people would refuse the opportunity to start the song.  The difference?  Japanese people are not afraid of sharing their singing voices any more than they are afraid of sharing their speaking voices.  It’s just part of who they are.  I’ve yet to meet anyone who was afraid of singing.  Oh, we could take a lesson from the Japanese people on this one! 

The Basket

Let me tell you about this special basket.  It sits, empty, in the foyer of our church, underneath the coat rack during the week.  But on Sunday mornings, it is gradually and quietly filled.  Branch members, as they come to church, quietly and anonymously, put food they have brought from home in the basket.  By the end of church, it is filled with all kinds of foods.  Most often there is rice, vegetables, fruits, and bread.  But sometimes they purchase special cookies, candies and other treats and put them in the basket. The food is for the elders- the young missionaries serving in Tsuruoka.  It is the members’ way of supporting the missionary work, of week by week saying thank you for the efforts made. They are most generous in their donations.  I’m afraid that sometimes these generous donations are the equivalent of the widow’s mite.  They are not giving of their surplus, but of their want.  I hope the elders thank their Heavenly Father for these good, kind, and generous people.  I know we do.