Postcard from Japan: A Fukushima Reunion in Tokyo

Kei and I have a strong connection to Fukushima – it’s where we both lived for twelve months and where we met. In fact my (teeny) apartment in Fukushima was the first place I had ever lived away from home. Our connection to Fukushima is part of the reason why we were both so affected by the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear plant meltdown. It was the main reason we offered to host a mother and child from the region in our home for 2 months over the summer of 2011.

My blog posts from July and August of 2011 share the full story of Mayumi and Karin’s visit, but I think the very first post that I wrote after their arrival and the one I wrote on the day they left sum up a lot of the things I was feeling. I think it’s safe to say that Mayumi and Karin became a part of our extended family during their stay.

So, when we traveled to Japan in November (our first visit since 2010), I was thrilled to learn that we’d have an opportunity to catch up with Mayumi, Karin as well as Mayumi’s husband (and Karin’s dad), Shinya – who we’d never met but had obviously heard a lot about. Mayumi, Shinya and Karin just happened to have plans to travel to Tokyo for a wedding while we were in town so we arranged to meet up.

As an added bonus, Mayumi had managed to get in contact with one of my old friends from Fukushima, Toru Mizuno. Toru worked at the Sukagawa Community Center and, thanks to his ability to speak English, helped me navigate everything from car buying negotiations to getting my washing machine replaced by the board of education after it broke down. He was a true friend to a young 22 year old living in a foreign country with limited knowledge of the native language. I’m not sure how I would have made it through that year without him.

So, long-story-short, Mayumi found Toru and asked him if he wanted to meet up with us in Tokyo and he said yes. Crazy! When I left Japan, Toru was twenty-something years old with young wife and two year old daughter. Now he’s forty-something and has five children (!). He also owns a large apartment building in Sukagawa where the new English Language teachers live.

So, on a sunny winter day in Tokyo, we found ourselves walking to meet a large gathering of old and new Japanese friends – Mayumi, Karin and Shinya, Sinya’s parents and Toru with the three youngest of his five children. Toru’s wife was off visiting their oldest child at college in Tokyo – the two-year old child that I mentioned earlier.

It was all a little crazy and surreal and awkward and wonderful at the same time. Thankfully we managed to get a group picture to prove that THIS really did happen.

Toru is in the back, third from the left. His children are the three biggest in the front. Very smart, sweet kids.

We all had lunch together, talking about Sukagawa, then and now. About how Toru is working out of a Gym because the Town Hall was destroyed in the earthquake. How the english teachers have much better accommodations now because Toru owns and manages the building. It made me feel nostalgic but also incredibly grateful for how far we’ve come.

After lunch, Toru and his children went to meet the rest of his family for the drive back to Sukagawa and Shinya’s parent’s boarded a train back to Fukushima city. Thankfully, Mayumi, Shinya and Karin were on a late train so we were able to spend the rest of the day with them exploring just a tiny little corner of Tokyo.

I’ll share more photos of our small adventure tomorrow but, for now, here’s a quick shot of the boys being reunited with their “sister”. Karin had barely changed at all in the years since we’d last seen her. Happiest, smiliest kid on the planet.

Postcard from Japan: Yokohama Bay

My mother-in-law lives in Yokohama – a city just outside of Tokyo which could really be considered an extension of Tokyo. When you catch a train from Tokyo to Yokohama you never really feel like you leave the city.

The last time we visited (about three years ago) I felt as though I had seen Yokohama. I knew the train station and the area around my mother-in-law’s house so that seemed like everything to me. We even traveled to the top of the second tallest building in the city so we saw it all, right? Wrong.

Apparently Yokohama has a taller building and a BAY. So this time we got a little more adventurous and caught a bus to check out the shiny parts of Yokohama, including the happiest place on earth for two small Pokemon fans.

The view from Yokohama Landmark Tower.

Some interesting food options for lunch…

And then, Nirvana (for them. Headache for me).

Thankfully this part of Yokohama is quiet during the week in November. We were the only people on the Ferris Wheel despite the amazing sunshine.

It must have been our lucky day because they put us in the transparent Ferris Wheel car.

I think Kei was asking the kids to show how scared they were to be able to see the distant ground below their feet.

A quick stop at the arcade where Kei and Thomas played a little Mario Kart while Samuel and I checked out some of the interesting prizes on offer. Fake food anyone?

If you look closely you can see our transparent ride.

A gorgeous day on Yokohama bay.

Wordless Wednesday: Cousins in Japan

Because this one deserves a post all to itself.

Postcard from Japan: Home Sweet (almost) Home

So much has happened since we arrived home from Japan that the trip feels like a distant memory and just yesterday at the same time. I traveled directly to Japan after my business trip to Beijing. I arrived early on a Wednesday afternoon, having endured a 5 hour flight while suffering the after effects of a little food poisoning (never more grateful for an almost-empty plane), and found myself incredibly happy to be landing in a country that feels a little more like home every time I return.

There’s nothing quite like 10 days in a completely foreign culture to help you appreciate the little things like an alphabet that you can read and the ability to speak a few useful phrases in the local language (and understand the response). I found myself saying “eki wa doko desu ka?” (where is the train station) and “nanji desu ka?” (what time is it?) with a confidence I hadn’t felt since I lived in the Japan many, many years ago. I felt exhilarated by the ability to travel by train from Narita to Yokohama without any English language assistance whatsoever. I said “Arigato” (thank-you) and “Sumimasen” (excuse me) to everyone I encountered just because I could.

And when I reached Yokohama station and saw Samuel running to me with arms outstretched I may have shed a small tear. I felt like I’d come home.

2013: One Last Look Back in Photos (July to December)

July

August

September

October

November

December

What a crazy, busy, fun, insane, wonderful year.

Wordless Wednesday: Postcards From Beijing

Postcard From Beijing: The Great Wall of China

Here’s what went through my head while walking along the Great Wall of China:

“I can’t believe I’m walking the Great Wall of China”

“It looks just like I’ve seen in photographs, but bigger”

“It’s so beautiful I have to take a picture”

“Oh, look at that view, I have to take another picture”

“And now it’s even more beautiful. I need another picture…”

“Wow, I really AM walking on the Great Wall of China”.

…You get the idea.

So, behold, just a small sampling of the approximately 500 photographs I took of every little nook and cranny of the Mutianyu section of The Great Wall of China, including the souvenir selling mania that followed.

We took a wrong turn and accidentally started walking up the Great Wall instead of meeting our friend at the gondola. After we realized our mistake, we started walking down and saw this sign. I think it means “Come back again”.

No, we did not walk up to the top – don’t judge. Although we did walk down.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I traveled to Beijing with two colleagues – Kara and Allyson. Kara had a connection in Beijing through her parents and so we were incredibly blessed that Lee (pictured with us below) and her friend were available to take us to the Great Wall. Lee and her husband live part of the year in Beijing and part of the year in Washington state. She was so incredibly sweet and so generous with her time. I doubt we would have made it to the Great Wall if Lee had not been there to take us.

After hiking about 1.5 miles along the top of the wall, we walked back down through souvenir central to get some lunch. Now, I am not comfortable with bartering but apparently that’s what you have to do here. I’m even less comfortable bartering in Chinese so, thankfully, I had Lee there to help me out. While I avoided the fake Columbia gloves, I did walk away with a couple of small dragon figurines for the boys and panda stacking dolls which I gave to a friend’s daughter in Tokyo. I feel comfortable that I managed to get a bargain price on all of my items but, honestly, it’s hard for me to calculate Dollars into Yuan so who really knows.

Finally, we stopped for lunch at a Chinese restaurant at the base of the wall. You know your food is fresh when you see this as you walk in the door.

10 minutes later…

What a wonderful day. We were blessed with blue (pollution-free) skies, great company and the kind of leg pain that reminds you of your experience through the following day. Truly once in a lifetime.

Postcard From Beijing: Hutong Tour, Dr. Tea and The Silk Museum

Amidst the pre-Christmas insanity and the general craziness of getting back to real life, my trip to Beijing now feels like a lifetime ago. It’s times like this when I find myself feeling incredibly grateful for the fact that I take a lot of photographs – and a little sad about the trips I took before I discovered my passion for photography that are not so well documented.

My work trip to Beijing included a weekend so my colleagues, Kara and Allyson, and I had some time to check out the city. Beijing is a BIG city and, given that none of speak Chinese, we decided the best approach on Saturday morning was to take a guided tour of the historical Hutong neighborhood. The tour included travel by mini bus to Hutong, a rickshaw ride around the neighborhood and a home visit with one of the residents, a tea tasting at a government-owned teahouse and a quick stop at the Silk Museum. We also managed to sneak in a quick view of the Olympic bird nest stadium. (warning: photo overload).

Our tour of Hutong started at the Drum Tower. I would have loved to have seen more of the Drum Tower and it’s Bell Tower cousin but the down side of the tour is that you find yourself at the mercy of the tour guide schedule.

Still, the ride around Hutong was fascinating.

Our Rickshaw driver.

Hutong is an historical part of the city where families live in houses (a increasingly rare occurrence in Beijing). These houses are most typically made up of a series of rooms that surround a courtyard which means that the residents walk outside from their living room to their kitchen and then to their bedroom. I imagine it can get pretty chilly in winter. Many of the houses also don’t have their own bathrooms so we saw signs for shared facilities around every other corner.

The tour gave us an opportunity to visit with one of the Hutong residents inside her house. We visited with a young mother who lives in one of these houses with her husband and small child. (Unfortunately I didn’t write down her name). Her parents lived with them until recently, when they decided that they would be more comfortable living in an apartment.

The family has a tradition of creating cut paper art and we were treated to a demonstration during our visit. Her work was amazing and I purchased a couple to take home.

After the paper cutting demonstration, we were invited to take a look around.

We soon left Hutong and rode in the mini bus to “Dr. Tea”, a government-owned tea house located near the Olympic stadium. Here, we were treated to a tea demonstration and sampling (which was lovely and relaxing) followed by a very strong sales pitch. I escaped by the skin of my teeth with just a tea cup and a box of Jasmine tea.

Pee pee boy made quite an impression. Thankfully they gave us one as a souvenir.

The poster advertisements outside the building were quite beautiful.

Our final stop on the tour was the Silk Museum where, I am pleased to say, I learned a thing or two.

This was first time I ever really contemplated where silk comes from. I knew it came from worms but had no idea that they collected the silk from the cocoons and that the poor little creatures sacrificed their lives as part of the process.

Fascinating.

Finally, we did a quick drive by of the Olympic stadium. And when I say “drive by” I mean we stopped at a viewpoint about a mile away just so I could take this photo. Still, I can say I’ve been there, right?

The Hutong part of the tour was a great way to see a part of the city that is not readily available to tourists (unless you take the tour, of course). While the rest of the tour was also interesting, there was a feeling that we were being given the hard sell at every stop. I gather the city makes a lot of money from tour groups who are willing to spend money on everything from Jasmine tea to (fake) silk purses. Our small group of three limited our spending but I wonder how many silk duvets went home with the large Russian group who toured the silk museum at the same time.

Overall though, I would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting the city with just a day or two to see the sights. Just keep a close eye on how you spend your Yuan.

Signs You Might Be in China

You wonder why you wake up in the morning with legs so sore that you can barely walk and then realize that, oh yes, it’s because you hiked part of THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA.

You risk your life every time you catch a cab… and cross the street. You may even get kicked out of a cab because the driver doesn’t want to take you to your destination and then find yourself doing the foreigner walk of shame down a busy street in search of a much more friendly driver (and yes, we did eventually find one).