Sunday

Pictures of Colette at the second halloween party. . .

We ate with Ricardo and Rose at Seiko's parents' house on Sunday, pictures is a mixture of Brazilian rice, macaroni, sausages, and beans with Japanese sushi. It was all really good. Seiko is a Japanese student at our school who lived in Utah for a few years, about 25 years ago, who has conversation class with Nicolle. Her father headed an agricurtural education project 50 years ago in Brazil, teaching Brazilians to grow rice. He wanted to meet Ricardo and his parents, who were both born in Japan before their parents left for Brazil many years ago.

Nicolle and Colette in their angel outfits. They don't need the wings, halos, or white clothes; they're already angels.
Today we went to Takamatsu and had lunch with an American couple from our ward, they went to BYU and have also lived in London for study abroad. William was a film major, and he said he edited a short documentary interview with Dad, something about Education in Zion or something. Small world.

The Yakuza

This week we were blessed with the presence of the Japanese Mafia at our school every day. The Yakuza are especially strong, I've been told, in Shikoku, our little island. All this week we had large $100,000 cars parked (sometimes double-parked) in the school parking lot which also doubles as a playground. Unlike the mafia in other parts of the world, the Japanese Yakuza makes no effort to hide from law enforcement or the public, in fact they do the opposite; they advertise to everyone that they are mafia by their license plate numbers and their tattoos, their hairstyles and their gruff manner. In Japan it's not against the law or punishable to be openly affiliated with the Yakuza, they are only punished if they do something wrong.
The week started normal enough, but when we took the kids outside for their play time we noticed three large very expensive cars parked in the school's spaces, white and silver BMW's and Toyota Majestics, very new with leather interior, and big rims. The license plate on the nicest car was 4444; 4 in Japonese is pronounced "shi" which also means death. Another car had 4949; 9 also means "suffering". "The Yakuza love to use these numbers," my boss said to me in a hushed voice. I asked her if she would call the police to have them ticket the cars which we blocking our spaces, she paled and said no, she also said not to say "Yakuza" or "mafia" loudly, they might hear. She said if we called the oplice and the cars were ticketed, that the Yakuza would do something in retaliation to the school. They left before lunchtime but I noticed a large puddle on and at the base of a wall of the school.
The next day the cars were still there. Daron said he saw one of them come back to their car while he was there with all the kids. The man had a grumpy look on his face, Daron said. Two of the little girls went up to him and said hi, but he ignored them, and got in his car and drove away. Daron also said he saw one of them pee on the wall in plain sight without trying to face away or anything.
The next day there were about twice as many cars, this time double parked. Lori saw three mafia thugs this time, all in very nice black suits. One was a skinny man with bleached orange hair, the others had shaved heads. All had angry expressions on their faces.
I wondered when this would end, or if they had found in our little school a new place to park permanently. I also saw other Yakuza cars around town. Lori saw a bunch of Yakuza cars parked in the street around a brightly decorated shrine near the school; shrines are decorated with colorful flags for a funural. The cars were parked in the streetall along the road near the shrine.
At the school, there was a Yakuza car parked right in front of the door so we could barely get in. Fumi finally called the police, and the Yakuza came and moved their cars after only a few minutes. This is interesting, since no policeman came to give a ticket, and the cars weren't towed, the Yakuza were called by the police I guess from the license plate numbers. It's no secret who the Yakuza are, even where they live, etc. Soon after the cars were moved another Yakuza came and parked in the newly vacated spaces. Fumi called the police again, but this time there was a different officer who took her call. He said there was nothing they could do, that sometimes as a courtesy the officers take care of parking issues but that he was too busy. He said that if someone is parking illegally on your property, you have to deal with it, not them. She got his name and will talk to their supervisor about why there was a difference from the response she got in the morning.
Fumi said that she went to get Japanese noodles at an "udon" (noodle) restaurant in which many Yakuza were eating. They didn't use parking spaces but rather parked right in front of the entrance, all disorganized.
The funeral party must've ended Thrusday because yesterday there was no sign of the Yakuza in town.
Tonight I'm going to dress a Yakuza for our church haloween party. If you want to learn more about the Yakuza, read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakuza.

Pictures from the Haloween party

Colette wins first place in the costume contest.
Here are our Brazilian friends Ricardo, Rose, and their son Alison sitting with Colette.
After the party we stopped by a Junior high school near our home so Nicolle could play some volleyball. The other night when driving home from Ricardo and Rose's house we saw a bunch of ladies playing volleyball here. We stopped and wanted to find out if Nicolle could play sometime, but didn't know how we'd communicate or if they'd want her to or not. They all were very happy to see her and gathered around Colette, and said Nicolle should come play with motions and the little English they knew. They practice for two hours two nights a week, and are very happy to have an "International" team, so looks like Nicolle's in! She's very excited.
Tonight is our ward Halloween party, so we'll have more pictures to come.

Halloween Party

Last night was the school's Halloween party. Nicolle paints faces . . .
Colette and I . . .
I caught Colette poaching prizes backstage at the fish pond . . . actually no she was "helping" me bag treats, she sucked on each one before putting it its bag though.
Nicolle decorates before the party.

first prenatal visit

On Monday we went in for our first prenatal visit. I didn't know what to expect at all. My first prenatal visit when I was pregnant with Colette consisted of blood tests, urine samples and family history of disease. I guess I thought that that would be likely this time too. We arrived 15 minutes early for our appointment and filled out some paperwork, with the help of one of my students (who also set up the appointment and everything, so nice). The clinic had a cute little play area with a little kitchen and stuffed animals that Colette loved. I don't think we would have survived the 40 minute wait without that play area. Finally they asked me to come to the other room alone. I was given a terrycloth skirt to change into. I kind of thought that there must be a mistake because in the states my doctor never did an internal exam, especially on the first visit. I didn't want to make a fuss so I did as I was told and changed then hopped up on to the examening chair. The room was dimly lit but cozy. The doctor came in and introduced herself. Her name is Dr. Pooh (actually I don't know how she spells it but she said Pooh like Winnie-the-Pooh). She speaks excellent English. I saw her lubricating a thing and got a little nervous but she kept talking to me as she inserted it and I hardly even noticed. Suddenly there was the baby! It is so tiny, I could only even tell what we were looking at because I could see the tiny little heart beating. The doctor sent for Rob and Colette so they got to see the baby too, but Colette doesn't like seeing me being examined or something so she started crying and trying to get to me so Rob had to take her out again. After the doctor took some pictures and measurements with the ultrasound she had me change back and meet her in another room to talk. She told me that she wanted to see me again in two weeks. She also said that she would do an ultrasound every visit. She asked me about Colette's birth and told me about the hospital that I would likely deliver in. It is a nice hospital in a nearby city, she said that they are remodeling it so that if I'm lucky I will deliver in the new section of the hospital like a queen:)
In the end they didn't draw any blood, or take any samples, but like Rob said they went straight to the source with an ultrasound. I guess you can say that I was impressed with the whole thing and feel much better about being pregnant in Japan than I did before. I am actually pretty excited now.

Saturday morning, i.e. Friday morning

Colette loves her Sesame street! Sometimes I sit in front of her while she watches it, just so I can look at her face when she's focused.
Today's Saturday, but sinceI'll be working all day it might as well be Friday. I'm sore because I lifted too much at the gym on Wednesday. The other couple showed us the local gym, you pay 300 yen (about $2.50) and can lift as long as you want.
Tomorrow will be busy, since we are newly called as branch missionaries that means more meetings, an hour early, plus since I'm the choir director (what?) I get to stay late for choir practice too. Plus I'm speaking so I'm trying to scramble a talk together, hence the blog: procrastination. Speaking with a translator is great, though; a 5 minute talk takes ten minutes. Plus everything takes longer to say in Japanese, so I can say a short sentence then get a good 30 second wait till I have to say anything else!
Monday is Nicolle's first doctor's appointment for the new baby. We're going with one of our students who will translate for us. Nicolle's been feeling stomachaches and a bit of nausea from all the smoke. Everyone's burning their stubble after harvesting the rice. There's got to be a better way, the whole valley fills with smoke every day and night. Burning isn't the right word, more like smouldering their stubble. It sits all day smoking, slowly spreading until its all burned. The smoke permeates everything, anmd our clothes smell like we've been camping. Hopefully soon they'll all be burned, but since there are still many fields which haven't even been harvested yet, I think we're in for a long fall burning season. Nicolle's thinking about wearing a surgical mask or something.
Well, since I've come to Japan I've been trying to get a paying gig playing my sax. We're off in the boonies so there aren't any paying places to play, that I've found anyway. I don't want to play for free anymore, since I have to be away from my family to do it. . . but finally I have a gig! It's playing at a bridal fair with this pianist I met through an English-speaking cafe owner. I'm excited because hopefully it'll drum up more work, she plays regularly at weddings.
Well I suppose I'd better get ready to teach my classes. Poor kids, with one class a week there's no way to learn a foreign language, I know after learning two that you have to have daily exposure and constant practice or it'll never happen. But they know a lot of flashcards anyway!

Day off

This is a magnificent bird of prey that we saw on our bike ride. It didn't seemed phased by all of the people that were around.













We've heard a lot of good things about this Indian restaurant close to the school so we checked it out for lunch. It was awesome. Colette loved the food and insisted on eating it by herself so of course she made a huge mess. They had cool music in the background, Colette was shaking her bum and stomping her feet. Her little dance moves would give any belly dancer a run for their money. I wonder if we could convince the restaurant owners to pay us to have her dance there, as in house entertainment.










This is a yard that we passed on our bikes and I just had to stop and take a picture. I love the way the japanese use space. The trees and bushes are all beautifully sculptured and the patios seem so serene.









We just thought it was funny how small this door is. It makes Rob look like a bit of a giant.
Rob and Colette on the bike trail. It was perfect weather for a bike ride.

the harvest

The last couple of weeks have been harvest time for most of our neighbors. So here are some pictures. I took these while we were out on a bike ride on our day off so they aren't that good, sorry.
Here is a cute little tractor, it is a little bit smaller than a lawnmower that you ride, but the farmers that ride them are usually very small and bent from decades of farming that they don't seem as small.



This is the rice just before they harvest it. It is pretty tall but all of the fields are lower than the street so they don't seem as tall as they actually are. If you look at some earlier pictures you would see that when the rice plants are young they keep them really well irrigated so that it looks a bit like a swamp. By the time the rice gets to this point it is solid mud, which is convenient I guess since they have to use the little tractors to harvest it.

















Rob and I love the way that this looks. This is how they dry the rice plants, we assume. It is funny to see the really big modern houses next to rice fields and temples.
This intersection is on a fairly big road just a few blocks from our house.









One thing that drives us nuts about Japan is how much they love to burn. The missionaries told us taht this is nothing that the spring is much worse. Rob asked if there was a certain time of the day or day of the week that they are allowed to burn. The reply was that any day and any time is a good time to burn stuff in Japan. It is a little eerie and toxic when the whole valley is filled with smoke that sticks to the back of your throat. It looks kinda cool though with the rows of stubble on the charred ground.

Buffet and Karaoke in the same day . . .

Sorry for all the vegetarians out there, but I had to take this picture. It shows the meat section at the restaurant we went to today with Fumi and Mr. Morimura, and the other couple, Daron, Lori, and their baby. The Morimuras took us out for lunch to celebrate Nicolle's and Annie's birthday. There were even squid here to cook. Each table has a grill built in and you cook your own food. It's a Bennion paradise because they not only had meats of all kinds but also fruits, vegetables, salads, sushi, cakes, ice creams, even a cotton-candy machine. Fruits and meats are so expensive here we rarely buy them.
Here's Fumi with Annie and Colette.
The Bennions. You can see two types of sauces in front of me, one for meats, the other for sushi.
Later we went to a Karaoke place, and Nicolle actually sang! She has a great voice but rarely sings. she sang three songs! Two Shakira and one Shania with Lori. I sang Sweet Child of Mine (badly), I can't help falling in Love with You (UB40), Rapper's Delight (Sugarhill Gang), Desafinado, and Garota de Ipanema. We all had a lot of fun. The Morimuras were much better at it as it is a big deal in Japan, I didn't know until we came here that Karaoke is a Japanese word. Everyone sings karaoke here. Some karaoke clubs have private rooms you can rent for a few hours, where you can sing as much as you want in privacy, or others are open to whoever wants to sing in a bigger room.
Here's another picture of the table with the grill in the middle. When Mom and Dad come we'll definately take you to this restaurant.
We also ran into a big group of Peruvians there. We had already met one of them the other day.
Last night we had our new Brazilian friends over for dinner. It was great to finally converse with someone who lives here, even though they are foreigners here like us. The husband is dekassegue, or a foreigner of Japanese ancestry. His father taught him Japanese so he speaks it well, but she only speaks a few words. Like the Brazilians I knew in the States, they are here only to save money, but will return to Brazil after being here about 5 years. They are actually going home in July just like us. We were all happy to have them as friends, and hopefully we'll be able to see them more while we're here. They're very nice.

Emi means beautiful in Japanese

Colette is getting bigger all the time. Emi is her middle name, named after Emilce, Nicolle's Abuelita, and in Japan it's a girl's name and means beautiful.
We are getting ready to go out today, it's our day off. It's kindof chilly so we're wearing warmer clothes.

When it rains it pours . . .

The past two weeks have been very busy and exciting. I'm very happy about our new addition coming next May/June. I can't decide whether I want a boy or a girl, not really up to me anyway. A boy might be nice but how do you change his diaper with that spigot in the way? And I like girls, they're so cute.
This week was Nicolle's birthday and it was kindof a bummer because she had to work all day. I had to go to Takamatsu for some classes in the middle, and since she'd told everyone that it would be her birthday they all brought food and gifts to her classes. When I tried to teach her classes after I got back from Takamatsu, each class had brought gifts and food, they looked at me "where's Nicolee" so she ended up teaching them anyway. After she was finished she opened her presents, a volleyball, two dvds, a bunch of candy and chocolate, and some coats from the 2nd hand store (only one of them fits, see what happens when you try to buy clothes for someone who's not there!). Well I tried anyway.
When we verified Nicolle's pregnancy I got a message from the English-speaking owner of a cafe here close to the school where we teach. She said her friend, a professional singer, had given her the name of the manager/agent who does all her booking. I met with her this week and we discussed a bunch of things, but she wants me to play at weddings and with her party band "Jive" as well. The pay is actually decent so it looks promising! Also one of our students is helping me try to scare up some gigs as well. I think most of the work will be in Takamatsu, a city about 4 times the size of Marugame, about an hour's drive from here. Hopefully I can take the train, but actually the price is about the same whether we pay the gas or pay for the train.
On Monday we spoke with our boss about me taking over a bunch of Nicolle's classes. We'd split them up to so that Nicolle would feel less stressed during her pregnancy. It was about half and half but since our boss was so cool about it I've been teaching more than that, and can constantly take on more as time goes on. We also asked her about music, if she would have a problem with me playing gigs and possibly having make-up classes if I had to miss on for a gig, she said that would be fine.
I've found that I actually enjoy teaching. I feel better taking on more of the load, "share the load, Frodo!" something about feeling productive and useful etc. I enjoyed my life of bikeriding and sightseeing but since there was no opposition I didn't feel the need to try to develope myself much. Since I had all day to learn Japanese, practice my many instruments, and whatever else, I hardly ever did. But now that there's a challenge, now that I don't have as much time (I still have lots of time) I am supermotivated. I've been practicing every day and I'm even excited to learn Japanese. I'll need it to communicate on a gig.
Well today's a lazy Sunday, no church today because it's Genreal Conference week here. Last week general conference happened in the middle of the night, so today we're supposed to listen to it. Later on we're having our new Brazilian friends over for dinner, and also our American friends the Watanabes, Lori went on a mission to Sao Paulo so she's excited to meet them as well. I toss the idea around in my head sometimes about organizing some sort of community resources for the Spanish and Portuguese speakers here in Marugame. There isn't really anything here as it is. Maybe an online or physical message board, or group get togethers or something. I think it would be helpfull for those newly arriving, and fun. I know for us it's nice to hang out with Americans because we speak the same language! I like meeting and speaking with Japanese, but there's the old language barrier which makes it impossible to communicate.

Birthdays

Hello Kitty! This week was my birthday, so many of my students and friends from church celebrated all week long. This was a delicious (and cute) pineapple cake that the Takashima family made for us. They invited all of the English teachers over for a joint birthday party (it was Annie's birthday last Thursday and it will be Ailleena's birthday on the 19th, mine was the 5th). It was a lot of fun to hang out and talk for several hours. There were also sparklers and magic tricks. The Takashima's are chicken farmers, so at the end of the evening all of the couples got two dozen eggs. Yay for the incredible edible egg!


We went bowling on Monday with our friends the Bytheways. Everything was pretty much the same as the States, except for the vending machine bowling shoes. Pictured is Sarah, getting her shoes. They love vending machines in Japan.















Of course we had to include a picture of Colette for all of the baby junkies out there (you know who you are). This is at the Takashimas, Colette loves to put on big shoes and hats and stumble around. I thought she looked like an little Amish girl. She likes to pull hats down so low that she has to throw her head way back to see anything.