Farewell Junko

Yesterday we had another party with our coworkers. This time it was a farewell party for one of the Japanese staff members, Junko. She's moving to Fukuoka and getting married.
We knew we were going to a Japanese restaurant that served Sashimi (raw fish) but they had told us that there would also be other choices... for Nick.
Neither of us expected to see the presentation of the Sashimi. We were both surprised by the "face" staring back at us throughout dinner (see below).

I tried some new things. Nick lost his appetite due to the look and smell of all the seafood. This was an all you can eat and drink dinner. Nick took advantage of the drinks to make up for the food.

I love seafood but I have found that seafood in Japan is different. For example, I love shrimp but, as pictured above, these are raw shrimp. They have a different texture and taste and I didn't care for them raw. I do love octopus especially because it tastes the same whether it's raw or cooked. The tuna is still too chunky for me to eat but the thinner slices of fish were pretty good.
There seemed to be an endless supply of food. After this Sashimi plate, there was a plate of tempura (breaded) shrimp patties along with chicken wings and sausages (weird combination, huh?). After that there was a plate of breaded pork patties mixed with egg and soy sauce followed by fried rice. I didn't care for that too much but it was tolerable. The grand finale was the seafood "nabe" (hot pot). This hot pot was a sort of stew full of fish, clams, crab legs, cabbage, mushrooms and maybe some other random things. It was a little spicy but delicious. Unfortunately, by then I was already kind of full from all the other stuff. The bad thing about the hot pot was the strong smell of the seafood being cooked. Even though I loved it I can admit that it did stink.

The Japanese women ate like it was their job! You wouldn't believe how much they ate compared to their small size. Nick and I were both amused by our manager, Yazue, because she brought her own disposable tupperware containers to take food home (see below). It was "all you can eat" and obviously you are not allowed to take the leftovers home. However, since we had our own little room she was able to sneak out a few containers full.

Below are Yazue, Junko and Miki. After a few drinks they were still holding up strong!

Picnic at the Park

Last Friday I went to a picnic at the park with the teachers and students from FIS. FIS is made up of a group of people who volunteer to teach English to foreigners. The minimal fee of 3000 Yen ($30) covers the lessons for 6 months. I was supposed to start my Japanese lessons on this day, but this picnic was scheduled for Cherry Blossom viewing in a local park. I got to meet my teacher (below). I'm sorry to say that I'm not sure of her name....I think it's Kukiko.

Unfortunately, the "Sakura" (Cherry blossoms) had not yet bloomed on the side of the park close to FIS.

However, on our way home we walked by the part of the park where they had started blooming. Next week, once the flowers have fully bloomed, we'll be attending another party at night when they light up the park with lanterns.

Two Months? Are You kidding?

Another week has gone by. Can you believe we've been here for 2 months already?!?!?! We didn't do anything exciting this week so we'll write a little something just to stay in the routine of updating the site. We are starting to establish a weekly routine of not doing much. We spend quite a bit of time around the apartment just being lazy. It's exactly what we wanted!
I was supposed to start Japanese lessons tomorrow but instead of class we're having a "Cherry Blossom viewing" picnic at the park. Hopefully I'll get to meet my teacher and choose a book. I'm not sure if the Cherry Blossoms have bloomed yet. Most students have told us that it will still be a couple of weeks 'til they are in bloom. I guess I'll know tomorrow.
I went to yoga again today. It was a true workout this time. Heather, Martina and I were all sweating. I've decided to go to yoga twice a week rather than just once a week. This will force me to get up early and actually do something active.

We also received another care package. This was a big one from our friends Ashleigh and Tim in New York City (Thanks guys!). We could not believe our eyes when we opened the box. We were very happy with the items in the box.

Also, Nick and I have found a new cheap snack. For those of you who knew me a little better you know that I'm not a big fan of meat in particular hot dogs. The curious thing about living abroad is that anything that resembles "home" is welcomed. In this case, I have a newfound appreciation for corn dogs!!! Yep, they are at every convenient store in Japan. They even serve them with a ketchup and mustard packet that dispenses equal amounts of each on the "dog". Even though I'd never think of these back home now we both actually sometimes 'crave' them.

Nick eating a corndog.

Steph's New Hobby: Yoga

My first yoga lesson was actually last Wednesday but this week I took the camera with me to see if I could score some pictures of me in some of the poses.
After my first lesson I had some homework to do. If you're thinking I had to practice stretching or breathing you're wrong. I had to learn how to count from 1-10 in Japanese. This was not an actual homework assignment but one that I assigned to myself. See, at the beginning of class the instructor has us do a series of stretches for our legs and feet and they followed a particular rythm as each student counts from 1 to 10. But I had to ask if I could do it in "eigo" (English) because I didn't know how to do it in Japanese. Well, after some practice, this week I was able to do it....yay for me! Some numbers are actually two syllables but the teacher has us break it down into just one syllable so that it flows better for the exercise. This makes it a little easier for me especially because 6,7 and 8 are the 2 syllable ones and those are the ones that I had trouble saying fast. So here is the written version of my accomplishment for this week:
ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, shichi, hachi, ku, ju!
There it is 1-10 in Japanese, now you can practice saying it fast also.

I was a little scared about going to yoga because I had heard from the other Nova teachers that the yoga teacher did some bizarre things like walking on your back, standing on your ankles and cracking your back or neck. I was told that if I said "itai" (painful) he would not go any further. Last week's lesson I did pretty good and I managed to avoid the need for any chiropractic treatments. This week I wasn't so lucky. I was attempting to touch my knees with my head while sitting flat on the floor with legs stretched out, when the teacher noticed I wasn't going as far as he would have liked. He came over and did some massages on my back. I was scared that he would try to crack my back so I looked over at Heather and asked her if he was about to do it and she said "maybe". Before I could try to figure out how to tell him I didn't want him to do that, he had already placed his knees on my back and had started "adjusting" my back. I can't say that it hurt but it didn't feel good either. I may be a little sore tomorrow. However, as soon as he finished I tried it again and magically I came pretty close to touching my knees with my head.....but couldn't hold it too long.

The next challenge was to make an upside down arch (see below). While laying down on the floor, we had to lift ourselves up until our body made a "perfect" arch. I thought Heather and I were doing ok but then he wrote on the board "65%" and then drew a picture of what we looked like and drew a picture of what we should look like. We were not close at all. After some stretching of the chest muscles to "open up our chest" we tried it again. Heather did it so well that he took out the camera to take a picture of her. Then she managed to get a picture of me while I attempted it. We still have a long way to go with the placement of our arms (arms should be next to the head)but we did improve in the short time we were in class.



After class, they served some tea and snacks for us to enjoy. I again felt the dire need to learn Japanese quickly. Everyone gathered around the small table to make small talk. Although everyone seemed to have questions for Heather and I. Heather did all the talking and translated for me. I can't wait 'til I can speak with them even if it's in the most broken form.

The only man in the picture is our 'Sensei'.

Cocktail Party

Nick and I.....towards the end of the night

Drinking is one of Japan's favorite pastimes and although it may seem like we partake in this tradition quite often...that is not the case. This is actually only about our 4th time out for drinks.
On Sunday night we had a formal cocktail party at a bar across the street from our apartment building. Two of our co-workers, Brendan and Trevor, organized the event and everyone pitched in to buy the alcohol. This bar is normally an Australian wine bar, owned by a Japanese woman who lived in Australia for 7 years. The bar is closed on Sundays but she was nice enough to 'donate' the space to accomodate all of us.

From left: Mike, two Japanese women we don't know, Nick, Me, Miki, Junko, Heather, Motomi, Trevor and Brendan

We had a chance to socialize with the Japanese staff outside the office. This is a rare event because they work so much more than we do. I even got to teach Motomi a few Salsa steps. There seemed to be sort of a 'Cuban/Latin' theme to the party with the bartenders' outfits, the Cuban music in the background and the drinks (Frozen Margaritas and Pina Coladas). Miki, Junko, Motomi and I were talking about dances and how Japan doesn't really have any types of dances. Motomi said she wanted to learn how to play Salsa so I offered to show her the basic steps. She picked up the steps pretty quickly but found moving her hips a bit difficult. Later that night we were joined by a Japanese woman who will be teaching "Beginner Salsa" starting in April. We are looking forward to the lessons.


Satomi and Izumi (owner of the wine bar)

Two interesting facts about drinking in Japan:
1) There is no government regulated 'last call' therefore bars are allowed to serve alcohol as late as they wish.
2) There is no open container law, so you can walk around with a beer wherever you want. It's common to see business men on the train-ride home with a cold beer in hand.

8.9.1945 11:02

So, I guess there comes a time in everyone's life when certain things come into perspective. Who am I? What is life? What is just? Other parts of the world can seem so distant, but occasionally we may have experiences that transgress both time and distance. Stephanie and I had such an experience today. On August 9, 1945, the city of Nagasaki, Japan was shaken by one of the most horrific events in modern history. The United States, in an effort to bring WWII 'to a close' decided to flex its' atomic muscle by dropping a 4.5 metric ton Atomic bomb on this peaceful coastal port. At 11:02 am most families were going about their daily routines when, without notice, a fiery inferno ensued. Within a period of 3 seconds, everything and everyone within a 1 kilometer radius perished. Radiation continued to disperse over the next 60 seconds, affecting everyone within a 3 - 4 kilometer radius. Worst of all, 70% of the victims were women, children and seniors. In the end, there were over 73,000 fatalities and nearly 75,000 injuries. While visiting the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum we couldn't help but feel . . . . . . well, I honestly cannot even describe how I felt. Our day spent there definitely gave us a truly realistic (and suprisingly unbiased) perception of the days surrounding this infamous event.

This morning we traveled 90 minutes south of Sasebo by train to the coastal city of Nagasaki (current pop. 450,000). Immediately upon arrival we set out for the Atomic Bomb Museum and Memorial Peace Park, a 10 minute streetcar ride north of Nagasaki Train Station. As we approached the museum we really had no idea what to expect. . . where they going to simply show us a few artifacts and tell us what we already knew? In the end, what we experienced was one of the most eye-opening days of our lives. The first exhibit displayed a wall clock, found 1km from the hypocenter (spot where the bomb was dropped), which ceased to operate at exactly 11:02am.

This image of a clock frozen in time somehow communicated a new meaning of how precious time is. The museum itself is divided into three main portions: 1) Nagasaki before the bombing, 2) Damage caused by the A-bomb, and 3) Moving forward toward a world free of nuclear weapons.

The first section displayed a number of photographs of Nagasaki prior to the bombing. . . the cityscape, countryside, and everyday activities.
The second portion first laid out the events leading up to the decision by the US to bomb Nagasaki. We learned that atomic research and development in the US was originally intended to combat Hitler's Nazi Germany. However, our government later decided to shift targets from Germany to Japan. One especially poignate fact was this: at an early conference, the US agreed on 17 potential A-bomb targets in Japan. . . one of which was Sasebo! Oh my god! We may only have been living in Sasebo for one month, but the feeling that came over me when I read that my current home could have been chosen as THE target was completely inexplicable. It's easy for us to distance ourselves from many events that taken place around the world, but this fact alone completely put things into perspective for me. The remainder of this portion of the museum focused on artifacts found in the days following the bombing and the stories of some victims and survivors. Although there is no way to verbally recreate the power of seeing such artifacts, I will give you a few examples (we were not allowed to take pictures):
*ceramic roof tiles with bubbled surfaces, the result of temperatures over 1,600 degrees celcius
*bones from a human hand fused into a block of cement due to the "ferocious heat"
*rosaries found at the previous site of Urikami Catholic Church (once the largest in Asia). The glass beads of the rosary had melted into a giant mass
*a helmet found near the hypocenter containing remnants of a human skull
*a collection of melted, mangled and discolored coins and stones

The final section of the museum was focused on nuclear activity from past WWII to present day. One interesting exhibit was centered around a group of American politicians and scholars who (prior to the bombing) demanded that the US need not use nuclear weapons on Japan. This included Dwight Eisenhower and Alberet Einstein. Another exhibit introduced the creation of the Hydrogen Bomb in 1953 (H-Bomb). Although an H-bomb has never been used in war, tests have been done by both the US and the former Soviet Union. One fact I found completely unbelievable is that the modern Hydrogen Bomb is 250 times more devastating than the Atomic Bomb dropped on Nagasaki. This means that a single H-bomb has the ability to wipe out the entire state of Florida within 60 seconds. If you weren't previously against weapons of mass destruction, I bet you are now!

After leaving the Atomic Bomb Museum, Steph and I made our way over to the Peace Park. We first came across the statue of a woman holding a child, which was inscribed with the '1945 8.9 11:02'. This statue was placed in the park in 1997, just after the 50th anniversary of the bombing.

Next we came upon a group of stones arranged in a series of circles around a large black monolith. This monolith stands at the 'Hypocenter' (point of detonation) of the bomb. A number of flowers, strands of origami, and gifts decorated the facade.

After a final decent to the top of a hill in the park we came across a resounding image: The Statue of Peace Prayer. This enormous 30-foot tall statue represents the hope of the people of Nagasaki, a nuclear-free future. One hand is pointing up (at the A-bomb) and the other hand is pointing toward the future. After an emotionally draining day, we made our way back to the streetcar stop.



We were completely overwhelmed in knowing that, as we returned to the train station, all of the cityblocks we traveled across were once in complete ruin. Although newly rebuilt and modernized, the city is marked with many memorials and remnants of the day they will never forget.

*Note: For more pictures of our Nagasaki A-bomb tour, click on our Yahoo!Photos link
**Note: 3 days prior to dropping the A-bomb on urban Nagasaki, the US detonated an A-bomb over the port city of Hiroshima killing an estimated 160,000 (August 6, 1945).