Happy Halloween!

Talking about Button

The baby bump definitely gets a lot of love at school. The girls are infatuated with my growing belly and make sure to say good morning and goodbye to the baby each day. Last weekend I went to Kobe for a conference and missed school on Friday. When I returned on Monday, this note was on our "discovery table".

Button is the unofficial name for the little babe, coined by the girls in my class.
Vampire anyone?
When you add up the tally marks, it seems I have 60 kids in my class....curious....seems we need to do a little work on data handling.

Neighborhood Matsuri

On a lazy Sunday morning, the beating of a large drum came down our little road.

The neighborhood matsuri (festival) parade was making its way to the temple to deliver the shrine. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the video of them carrying the shrine in uniform rhythm to load. Maybe next time.

The weather has finally changed, thanks to a typhoon off the coast, so we are no longer in sweltering heat. We tried to motivate for a hike outside the city, but we woke up a little too late. School is wearing us out. The baby is not even here yet and he/she wakes me up most nights. Last night was cook-your-own yakinikku and a screening of Iron Man 2. It takes about 3 takes for me to get through a movie these days.

Pregnancy in Japan

A few cultural differences I've noticed so far....

1. Despite the cute little "akachan" badge on my purse, no one gives up their seat on the train for me.
2. No food, except alcohol and cigarettes, is off limits here. Caffeine in moderation is ok. Sushi? Of course. Soft cheese...well, they don't really understand cheese anyway.
   
3. People look at me sideways for still riding my bike.
   
4. I'm treated with very delicate words and hands by Japanese women: "oh, please be so careful" are usually the first words out of their mouths. Pregnancy is a very special time here.
   
5. Prenatal vitamins are not regularly used because it is assumed that the Japanese diet is already healthy and varied enough.
   
6. It will cost an extra $100 to have James in the delivery room with me. I'm sure he would prefer to pinch pennies...
7. I get an ultrasound at every check up. I'm currently 19 weeks and have had 3 ultrasounds.
8. Japanese women are strictly discouraged from gaining more than 7 kilos (about 15 pounds). My doctor has told me to gain about 12 kilos (about 25 pounds) because of my height, and, as he says, he knows better. Epidurals are not, by default, done in Japan. Smaller babies = less painful natural births.
   
9. The government pays up to $85 for each of my prenatal checkups. My insurance is *$#%.
10. The "safe" mark for a pregnancy in Japan is the 5 month, whereas in America, you are considered in the clear after 3 months.
11. In Japan, you are considered pregnant for 10 months, not 9. It seems to make more sense, really: 40 weeks / 4 weeks per month = 10 months. In the US, they count some months as having 5. The lunar calendar changes things a bit.
12. Women are discouraged from making noise during labor. A friend of mine was repeatedly asked to quiet down so she would not disturb the other people in the hospital.
    

Summer of America

This summer was full of goodness, too much to narrate or list. Instead, a few photos (not in any sort of order) will have to do. Goodbye summer....you were too short and so wonderful.

We met our new nephew, Easton, in Utah.

Reunited with old friends and new additions in Portland

made the best of a missed connection in Minneapolis by renting bikes at a nearby park and seeing old friends

James got in some good mountain riding in Utah

Saw another nephew, John, in Colorado. I was so much faster than him.

Picked up a new friend at the beach in Hampton, New Hampshire.

Later we made friends with his cousin when he rambled into our Utah campspot

Saw Blues Traveler with good friends in Portsmouth, New Hampshire at the Red Hook Brewery

Enjoyed being a tourist in Boston while James went to school

Had a lobster with Cory's family in New Hampshire

Celebrated Hilary's engagement with good college friends in Portland

Enjoyed a Red Sox win at Fenway Park from the cheap seats

Even walked to Maine!

Spent the night at a great cabin on a peaceful lake in New Hampshire

Did a little kayaking on that lake

Found the yummiest country store in New Hampshire

Tasted delicious small batch soda at a New Hampshire bottling company

Had mediocre food at a true New England diner with Ude

Visited 90+ year old grandparents in McMinnville

and cousins and aunts and uncles

Saw friends leaving for big trips

and met new friends

James helped salvage a bird nest hurt by fireworks

Basked in Oregon's beauty

Visited friends in Montana (and wrote my thesis where ever I could find a chair and internet connection)

Watched the 4th of July fireworks over Whitefish Lake in Montana

Viewed gorgeous early morning alpenglow in Glacier National Park

oggled wind farms in Montana

loved camping in our truck

and enjoyed the prairies in South Dakota.

June in Tokyo

We had a few visitors to our tiny apartment in June and we enjoyed seeing Tokyo through a newcomers eyes once again.

I was almost sad to stop riding my bike to work each morning because the hydrangeas on this nice garden path were just about to bloom. Almost, but not totally. A break from the race is a good thing.

My brother Dirck, sister-in-law, Jill and James's friend, Kevin, came to visit. We took another yakatabune ride on Tokyo Bay, this time at night.

Baseball at Tokyo Dome

Sneaking a picture of a wedding at Meiji-Jingu shrine in Harajuku. I love the look of the little boy on the right. Get me out of here and these clothes!

We even took a short trip to Hiroshima and Miyajima. The tide was out this time, leaving the torii to be surrounded by visitors and people clamming.

Beautiful sake barrels at the shrine on Miyajima.

Homemade Umeshu

In May and June, Japanese apricots cover the ume (うめ ) trees and are for sale in grocery stores all around Tokyo. It's the season of homemade fruit liquor. James and I are big fans of umeshu, the sweet, fruity liqueur that is called "plum wine" but is actually made from these Japanese apricots. I've yet to figure out why we call these apricots, plums. Before we left for America for the summer, I looked up a recipe for homemade umeshu and I tried my hand at a simple recipe.

Start with freshly cleaned and stemmed green apricots.

Rock sugar, white liquor and a big glass jug are the only other ingredients.

Layer apricots and sugar until you are about tw0-thirds full and then pour the white liquor over the top.
Voila!
We'll let you know how it tastes in about a year.

**Or maybe you could taste it yourself when you come to visit?**

Yakatabune Birthday Party

School finished on Friday, June 4th and the days since have been a whirlwind of Sayonara parties, birthday parties and visitors. Last Sunday, we took a party cruise on a Yakatabune for friends Moegi and Kuniyo's birthday. The cruise lasted about 2 hours and drops anchor for a while in Tokyo Bay just near Odaiba and the Rainbow Bridge. We lucked out with gorgeous weather.

Lots of other boats were out partying with us that day. This is a great spot to be for the August O-Bon fireworks.

This trip was a nomihodai/tabehodai which means all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink in 2 hours. The girls are making okonomiyaki and monjyayaki. Monjyayki is a cabbage, egg, seafood, mochi and meat based pancake which you finely chop and then spread out over the grill until sticky and browned. At first glance it looks unappetizing but tastes pretty good.

We also had yakisoba and garlic rice. Cooking is half the fun.

View of Odaiba and the futuristic Fuji TV building from the roof of the boat.

Moegi and Kuniyo