BEAUTIFUL MATSUSHIMA

Okay I think I need to talk about Matsushima.  Matsushima is a town about 30-40 minutes from here.  We have gone through there several times on our way to and from Sendai or other places we have been.  When we first saw Matsushima we couldn't believe how beautiful it was.  Then we learned that it is listed as one of the three most beautiful places in Japan.  Matsushima is a town on a bay and there are over 250 islands dotting that bay.  Because of the islands, Matsushima was sheltered from very much damage by the tsunami.  When you drive through the coastal road, you might see some views like these:

It is really gorgeous.  Anyway, our zone is having their p-day in Matsushima tomorrow and so we volunteered (!) to check the town out and see what there is to do.   Some of the main attractions are the Zuigani temple, the temple grounds and caves and a couple of other shrines.  We did not go into the temple but we walked the grounds which are wonderful and they are lined with "caves":

These caves were used in the 1100's to 1800's for the burial grounds for ashes of the deceased.  You cannot actually go into them but you are close enough to see into them and they are fascinating.  Also the rest of the grounds are beautiful and peaceful as well.  We have not gone into the other shrines yet (sorry about that) but tomorrow will probably be the day and we have heard those grounds are wonderful as well.  Also in this area are other points of interest and museums that grab your interest.

As far as the islands, they are beautiful also.  There are three islands that have bridges to them but the two longer ones are currently closed due to the earthquake but are due to open this summer.  Once you cross the bridges on foot, you are free to explore the islands which are covered in pine trees. 

The town also has plenty of shopping (nice souvenirs which are actually not that easy to find in Japan) and restaurants.  Matsushima is known for its oysters and during oyster season (October through March) they are know for their "all you can eat oysters" in 45 minutes for about $25.  They say many people can down 75 oysters in that time and that they have pretty big oysters there!  I do love shellfish so that may be on my list.  We'll keep you posted for this next winter!  Other than that, Matsushima is known for its seafood so we went to a small restaurant that had great food:

The top picture was the boiled and raw fish (notice the shrimp) and the bottom picture had the fried fish and shrimp.  Very delish.

Well, we went home well fed AND THEN on Friday a member of the branch invited us to go out to eat with her and another younger member.  When we got to her house she said she wanted to go to Matsushima to a place with a view to die for (not her words--she said it in Japanese but that is just my loose translation).  Well we ended up on the 7th floor of a hotel with a view:

It was gorgeous and the meal was one of those "once in a lifetime" events.  There were 5-6 courses (appetizer, soup(cream of pumpkin), rolls, fish plate, main dish plate (steak and lobster), and dessert plate(ice cream, custard (what is that French custard called?), and a torte).  It was scrumptious:

The above was the fish plate.  None of the courses were huge--just big enough to give you a great taste of some great food.  Matsushima--Thank you for a great time!


CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

After being here three months, I thought I'd tell you about some cultural differences between Japan and America.  These are in random order and are not meant to put either culture down--just some differences:

*In Japan, the people love the dark meat chicken.  The breasts are cheaper than the thighs.

*In Japan, when people laugh they cover their mouths with their hands.

*In Japan, when you go to a restaurant (like the one I just mentioned above), you do NOT say "thank you" to the waitress when she brings you your food or when they refill your water glasses.  We were told that that is because the Japanese are shy and don't feel like they know the waitress well enough.

*When you leave someone's house in Japan, they walk you out to your car (even if it is snowing or raining) and wait for you to leave, even directing traffic so you can leave the area, and bow and wave to you as you leave.

*When you go to a cheaper restaurant (say Applebees in America) when you are ready to order you ring a bell similar to a doorbell and it chimes throughout the restaurant and then the waitress comes right over to help you.  Also if you ever need anything during your meal, you can ring the bell.

*The cars in Japan do NOT turn on their headlights until it is pretty much DARK.  And they don't turn on headlights in the rain or snow either!  And no cars have automatic headlights during the day like in the States.

*The high school students wear uniforms.  The girls' skirts I would describe as "cheerleader skirts"  They are super short and pleated.  Even in the dead of winter you see these high school girls with the short skirts and bare-skinned legs.  You do see a few with a little longer skirts, but not many.

*The police cars in Japan always have on their flashing lights.  If there is an emergency, they also have their sirens on.

*The Japanese bow for everything.  The clerks bow when you buy something, the people bow in their cars when you let them in front of you, the toll booth men bow when you go through the toll booths.  Last week we did some service at a temporary housing unit and gave hand and arm massages to the older people (I learned to give hand and arm massages!) and one lady came in to the rec room and got on her hands and knees and bowed so her head touched the ground as she came in.  Even the Japanese people thought this was kind of extreme!

*The schools (high schools?) play chimes at 7:00 a.m., 12:00 noon, and 5:00 p.m. every day.  It is actually a little tune.  We live close to a school so we always know when it is one of those times!

*The Japanese are very sheltered when it comes to food.  Almost anything I have made, they have never eaten.  Today at Church we had lunch afterwards and we each brought something.  I brought sloppy joes.  They really liked them but had never had anything like that before.  Except at McDonalds, their hamburgers have no buns.  Other firsts that they have eaten and liked that I made are:  rice krispie treats, chocolate cake with frosting, carrot cake and Costco cookies and, of course, chocolate pudding cake!  But I have to admit I have eaten things that they eat for the first time:  wakame (seaweed stem), okada (veggies with soybean fiber), natto (beans in this sticky stuff that even Calvin doesn't like), and okonomiyake (kind of like an egg foo yung only the egg part has flour in it like a pancake).  Hmmm  even though I don't HATE any of these things, I think I'll stick to sloppy joes and chocolate cake!

A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF . . .

So another week has gone by and our lives become more and more eventful.  I thought I'd give you the play-by-play of our last week.  It seems like only yesterday (it was actually a month ago) that I was complaining that our lives were sometimes boring but not anymore.

Monday:  Preparation day.  We spent the day doing wash, cleaning the apartment, doing some major grocery shopping and skyping the family.  If you have never done that, it's quite a good way to keep in touch with others that don't live nearby (your grandkids and kids especially!).  We hook up with them on the computer and they can see us and we can see them and we can talk to each other.  Just like being there and talking to them!  Anyway, the rest of the day was spent cooking in preparation for Tuesday's district meeting and English class.  (See Tuesday to see what I made.)

Tuesday:  Headed off to district meeting at 8:30 a.m. (hour and a half away).  When we were at Costco last month I picked up a couple of large bags of tortilla chips and promised our district (there are ten of us) that I would make "macho nachos."  So today was the day!  I made this HUGE amount of taco meat, lettuce, salsa (whole bowlful), refried beans (got some canned pinto beans and mashed them up), green onions, sliced olives and made some cheese sauce.  I thought there was no way they could eat it all but I was wrong, wrong, wrong.  Hopefully their stomachs have recovered by this week!  We got back around 3:00 p.m.
At 6:00 we headed to English class.  There were only three there which is kind of unusual but we had a great time talking about Easter and spring (Easter,  Easter eggs, the Easter bunny, hunting for eggs and eating ham (their hams are seriously the size of your fist and when you cut it, it looks like bacon it has that much fat--no kidding), they couldn't believe such craziness could happen.  I made them easter "nests" (cocoa krispie treats) with jelly beans and they loved that:

The egg above was one of twelve sent to a member here.  They were real eggs (blown out) and beautifully colored (I don't know how) and were a great visual for our class.  I'm not sure how they made it to Japan from America without getting broken.  We played playdoh pictionary which for some reason is always a hit!
Wednesday:  We were able to talk and give a lesson to an investigator.  It was an amazing experience for several reasons.  We found out he already has had all of the lessons and that his wife died in the tsunami.  I plan on talking about him more in a future blog but I guess I could whet your appetite by saying he has read the Book of Mormon three times since Janauary and has given up coffee, tea and alcohol.  Suffice it to say it was a great discussion! 
That evening we went to Institute (gospel study class) and I took some more "nests" and they were a hit.  Next week we begin our study of the Old Testament.  I am looking forward to that because I loved my high school seminary Old Testament class.  Plus I have begun reading the Old Testament (we have reading assignments) and I have to admit I am already hooked!

This picture was taken before everyone came.  Usually we have around ten or twelve in the class.

Thursday:  Our mission president asked us if we would spend the day with him and his wife and another couple who are missionaries here.  We began in Shichigahama which is about an hour away in a fishing village that was badly hit by the tsunami.  First we saw a bunch of boats dashed up against a rock wall:

And then we attended a dedication ceremony for a refrigeration unit/ice maker for the fisherman's cooperative nearby:

The refrigerators and ice maker (in the background) were donated by the Church to help the tsunami relief effort.  Our mission president is the tall man in the middle.  There were several talks and dignitaries and lasted about an hour.  Afterwards Calvin and I were among some that were given gift bags which contained nori (seaweed sheets used to make sushi).  Each bag had ten packages of ten sheets each--yes we now have 200 sheets of nori!  Our kids will love that!

After the ceremony we continued up the coast towards our place but stopped at a lady's house that the Church met through some service projects.  The missionaries ended up shoveling the muck from her yard (4 inches deep) and she has become friends with the Grames (the missionary couple we were with).  Anyway, we had lunch with her at JoyFull which is kind of like Denny's.  The food was decent and reasonably priced.

After that we continued to a school in Kitakami which is another fishing village that was hit hard by the tsunami.  The elementary school that we went to was the only elementary school left of three.  But the sad thing was that one of the other elementary schools lost 70 percent of their children to the
tsunami because after the earthquake the power went out and so they didn't know about the tsunami and sent most of the kids home.  The ones left at school made it.  Plus there was another school that I'm not sure how many were lost but now there is only one elementary school and a lot less kids.  The Church had donated some sports bags and some storage sheds to this school.

On our way to our next and final stop we saw:

The top building was totally ruined but the clock (top center) was still there with it's haunting face at 2:46 p.m.--the time the tsunami hit.  The bottom building is atually larger (taller) than it appears.  The story behind that was that it was the city building and many people went to that building because they felt they would be safe there, especially on the top floor--they weren't.

Finally we visited a Mr. Sato who is the head of the fisherman's co-op.  The Church has furnished several things to his co-op.  He told us that most of the people in the town will probably never come back.  Only the fishermen who depend on the fishing industry will remain.  He told us that they are in the middle of  "wakame" harvest.  Wakame is the stalk of the Japanese seaweed.  Mr. Sato lost his wife and grandson who happened to be visiting to the tsunami.  He was a wonderful man but said he still can't sleep at night:

We arrived home around 6:30, tired from a full day!

Friday:  Finally a day to get caught up on some things!  We went for a LONG walk from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. (not a stroll mind you!).  Anyway, the weather was nice and it was great to get out.  Later in the day we had time to get caught up on some studying and I have been wanting to have some time to perfect some cakes made in a rice cooker.  And guess what?!  It works!  So far I have made a banana cake, chocolate cake, carrot cake and brownies in my rice cooker which have turned out really good.  They are moist and I just turn on my rice cooker and it does the rest!
Saturday:  Went for another long walk early in the morning.  At noon we went to the Church to hear the first session of general conference (our church conference held in Salt Lake City, twice a year).  We had a one hour break and then at 3:00 p.m. we watched the second session.  Calvin stayed for the priesthood session in the evening.  I took some of my cakes to sample and they were a hit.  I am having to find guinea pigs because we could NEVER eat all of the experiments!  Everyone loves the fact that I made them in rice cookers.

Sunday:  Listened to the last two sessions of General Conference (10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. with a one hour break).  Conference was great!!!!  We listened to the sessions last weekend at 5:00 a.m. and on the internet but it was great to hear them again and this time we had headphones which were in English and the others listened in Japanese. 

After conference a member brought around baggies of something for everyone:  it was wakame!  So tonight we had wakame (remember, the Japanese seaweed stem?):

It was really salty and didn't have much else of a taste but was kind of hard and chewy.  I guess you eat it with rice.  I have seen it in stores but never felt the urge to buy it!

So that is the week in review.  It made me tired just writing about it . . .


UPDATE ON 40-DAY COMMITMENT:

Last week I wrote about the 40 day commitment.  Some people wrote and said they were going to try it.  I just wanted you to be aware of two things that the article mentioned:

     *You may not see real results until the 30th day or later

     *You may actually feel a strong temptation not to begin or continue your commitment


HAPPY EASTER A LITTLE LATE

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter.  It is so foreign around here that no one even mentioned at Church that today is Easter which is kind of sad.  I always love the fact that people really want to go to Church on Easter (all Christian churches) and that we are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  And of course the fun festivities with the children and just celebrating the beginning of spring make the Easter season special.  I read on KSL about making Peeps sushi--fruit by the foot for the seaweed, rice krispie treats for the rice and a peeps sticking out the middle--and I really want to do that next year!

PLUGGING ALONG!

Can I say before I get started, I am always amazed each week as I write how many people have read this blog!!!  I was pretty confident that this would be a passing fancy but I am gratified by your interest in us and what we are Zdoing.  I also worry that if I write a boring blog, the numbers will dwindle to nothing!  Just kidding--we are planning on having this blog made into a journal as a reminder of these months in Japan so even if no one else is interested, we will be glad we did it.


CHALLENGE:

This week we received a challenge from our mission president.  He gave a talk on obedience at a meeting we attended.  Then he gave us a talk from Elder Gene R. Cook (I think it was in one of his books--sorry I don't have the exact reference).  It was called "Consecrated Missionary (40 Day Fast)."  In his talk he talked about when he was on his mission and things were going okay but not perfectly.  Then he was challenged to go for 40 days and give up things that might get in the way of his spirituality.  Anyway, Elder Cook took on the challenge and found that as he let go of things that distracted him from his work as a missionary, he became more in tune with the Spirit and amazing things happened. 

Our mission president also challenged us to do the same.  We were to begin by fasting (today is our fast Sunday) and then set goals that would eliminate behaviors that might interfere with our spirituality.  Some ideas might be:  wake up at 6:30 a.m.as you have been instructed to do, be more dilligent in setting goals,  don't speak sarcastically of others, be genuinely interested in those you meet, read the scriptures with a purpose in mind and not just to fulfill an assignment.  So for the next 40 days we have each set specific goals to increase our spirituality.  Maybe after the 40 days I will let you know how things went. 

But I also thought how great this would be for anyone.  What if everyone tried to become more spiritual and got rid of bad habits?   I remembered (since this is Easter week) how the Catholics celebrate Lent.  They give up something that they feel is an indulgence or a weakness for 40 days prior to Easter.  Then I thought of Christ who went into the wilderness for 40 days prior to his ministry.  Each day you are to begin and end with prayer asking for our Heavenly Father's guidance in keeping to your commitments and reporting your progress in the evening.  I am very excited to try this.


EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS:

In light of the earthquake and tsunami, I have been impressed in seeing an interest in emergency preparedness around here.  I noticed at the grocery store a display at the front of the store with large containers for water, food items which could be used in an emergency, flashlights, radios, cook stoves, etc.  This is definitely something on people's minds.

We also talked to the people in the church where we are about their preparedness before the disaster last year.  One sister said she had filled empty bottles with water and stored them (quite an accomplishment because most people have no extra areas for storage) and they had also tried to keep some extra food on hand.  Then she said what a blessing it had been.  Many places had no power or water for weeks. 

So this week we started our 72-hour emergency kit.  I got a duffle bag which had been abandoned from the mission home and began filling it like I did at home:  an extra change of clothes,  a couple of large bottles of water, a jar of peanut butter, crackers, some smoked fish, and a few other items which I have yet to add.  We do have an extra flashlight, some first aid items and some warmer clothes items that I need to add also.  As a side note:  We have had SEVERAL larger earthquakes lately.  None have been really close to us but we have felt ones that were 5.5-6.8 someplace else and they were pretty strong here.  And, of course, we have heard the horror stories of conditions post
tsunami.  I actually keep my cupboard fairly well stocked also.


EXERCISE AND NUTRITION(?):

We have begun walking in earnest!  The weather has been much better so we are able to walk most everywhere (although we have been caught in some rainstorms--remind me always to take an umbrella!).  It helps that my favorite place to get lettuce is a half hour walk away and there are a lot of fun stores along the way.  I have become obssessed with chicken and salad.  We had for the first time tonight--chicken with BBQ sauce!  Heaven!  Also I discovered V-8 juice!  Affordable and good hot or cold.  Also I have been still experimenting with some "baking."  I made carrot cake and banana cake with good results.  And I have made my chocolate pudding cake on numerous occasions with great response.  Actually I plan on trying to make some other cakes in my rice cooker and hope that will be a wave of the future!  It has been really fun to experiment with cooking because the Japanese hardly cook sweets at all and they love them.

 This week I am making rice crispy treat Easter egg nests with cocoa krispies and filling (?) them with the few Easter candies we could find:  tin foil chocolate eggs (not very many of them because of the expense), jelly beans, and peanut M&M's.  Not only did we have to search diligently to find these things, the packages are quite miniscual (sp?) compared to anything we have in the States.  I guess you can't expect to find Easter things in a non-Christian country!

Sorry, no pictures this week but next week I think there will be!

WHAT A WEEK!

We had a busy week this week!  On Tuesday and Wednesday we had Couples Conference; on Friday and Saturday we were at the Tokyo Temple, and on Sunday we had branch conference.  Here is the rundown of what we did:

Tuesday and Wednesday found us in Sendai (one and a half hours away) at Couples Conference.  There are six couples in our mission:  three from Japan and three from America.  All of us connected  immediately and we had a great time.  Those Japanese couples are incredible!  They bring with them so much enthusiasm and experience that it is hard not to learn from them.  We arrived at the conference wondering what else we needed to be doing and if we had enough to do.  We left the conference wondering if we had enough time to do everything . 

Some of the things we talked about were:  how we can find service opportunities in our communities, how to visit and help the less active people in our branch, how to work with and help the members of our branch, and how to help and fit in with the younger missionaries in our mission.  We had such a strong spirit of what we are doing here and had fun at the same time.  We went out to eat at a great Japanese restaurant and got to know our mission president and his wife better.  PLUS it was great to stay in a real house (the mission home) and be served food without having to cook!

Here is a picture of us at the conference:

Friday morning at 6:00 a.m.found us on our way to Tokyo.  But before we actually got to Tokyo we made a stop at COSTCO!  Yes, Costco here in Japan.  We brought plenty of cash (cash only except a Costco credit card) but didn't spend as much as we had hoped.  There were lots of things that were very familiar (lots of Kirkland brand products, Orville Redenbacher popcorn--microwave and plain, Skippy p-nut butter, snacks, etc.) but there were a lot of Japanese products which we bought some of those:  especially brown rice.  Some noticeable absences were:  no sour cream, powdered sugar, or granola bars.  An interesting price:  $40 for 2 lb. of butter!  But all in all it was a great experience as you can see below:

The above photo has a caption:  WHERE'S THE BEEF?  Notice that they have all-PORK hot dogs!  This is not a complaint:  just a cultural difference.  It was great anyway.  Plus one funny note is that the Japanese love their pickled veggies and sauerkraut is no exception.  They had a big tub of sauerkraut with the other condiments and lots of people were just taking a scoop and eating it whether they had a hot dog or not.

 

 

And I had to add this picture of a store near the temple in Tokyo.  Notice the Bettty Crocker cake mixes.  They have a price of 787 yen.  That's about $10 for one box of cake mix!

We finally made it to Tokyo around 4:00 p.m.  Destination:  the Tokyo LDS Temple.  We stayed in the basement of the Church next door to the temple where they have dorm-type rooms.  Since it was our stake's temple day the place was so crowded.  In fact, Calvin and quite a few of the other men ended up sleeping on the floor in the chapel!  But it was a wonderful time to attend the temple.  We went to an English session on Friday night and 2 Japanese sessions on Saturday morning (we had English headphones).  Our one regret was that some of the members of our branch were going to come but didn't make it because they were driving overnight and there was a big snowstorm in the Ishinomaki-Sendai area and a big rainstorm in the Tokyo area.  We left Tokyo around 12:30 and arrived back in Ishinomaki around 5:30 tired but energized by the great week we had had.

On Sunday we had branch conference which meant that the leaders from our stake came and attended our church and had lots of leadership meetings.  After our Church services we had a meal with food brought by the members.  I had to include this picture which is incredible.  One of the members brought this sushi that I have never seen before.  It has a square of egg in the middle with pink rice and white rice and a quarter of a cucumber.  It was so beautiful I had to take a picture.  And for all of you fish haters--no raw fish!

So that has been our week.  So exhausting but so great.  Plus, we had the biggest earthquake that we have felt thus far tonight.  Just thought I'd mention that.  But we are fine . . . .

POST SCRIPT:

I just wanted to mention something about the mail service once again.  On Tuesday afternoon we asked the missionary couple in the office to order us some "mugi."  It is a wheat cereal.  Anyway, I am not sure when it got ordered but on Saturday when we got back from Tokyo we had a delivery attempt notice that they had attempted to deliver it on Friday at 12:30.  The mugi company is about 2-3 hours away.  We called at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday night because it said they would answer anytime.  Well, within FIVE MINUTES of when we hung up they were at our doorstep!  Yes, this was 7:00  on a Saturday night!  Unbelievable.

FOOD FABULOUS FOOD?!

Okay since some of our most interesting moments this week have centered around food, I decided to let you in on what we have eaten.  First, by far one of the strangest and stinkiest moments was this:

We went to the grocery store and saw this package of what appeared to be some fish parts and it said "nabe" which means pan.  That meant it was for soup.  Anyway, when I got home and decided to make the soup I opened the package and what had been hidden is that I had two fish tails and a fish head!  The heads had been turned downward so you couldn't see the eyes and the tail fins had been tucked so you couldn't see them either!  My what deceptive marketing!!!!  But being the adventurous person that I am I decided to cook this up anyway.  The result:  okay fish broth but the worst smelling kitchen ever!  I did make the soup and it was allright but I will NEVER do that again since the stench was just not worth it.  I still think the house smells bad.

Okay on to something else.  The next day (Thursday) we were invited out to eat with one of the sisters in the ward and the Relief Society president.  We went to this restaurant that I think was VERY expensive.  They served this exclusive meal that was top quality:

It had lots of food but not too big of portions.  The rice was in these little bowls that had some other things (fish and vegetables) in it and had been cooked in the cast iron bowls so the rice was just a little crispy on the bottom.  It was called tamameshi.  It was served with miso soup, a couple of pieces of sashim (raw fish), some tempura shrimp and veggies (batter fried), a bowl of noodles, and probably something else I haven't mentioned.  By the end we were stuffed and it was SO good.

On Saturday morning we went to a town about 30 minutes away to do service at the temporary housing unit.  We ended up making the soup for people living there:

 

Those big pots above held the soup and others helped clean the temporary housing units which are lived in by those displaced by the tsunami and many of them are older.  The people who volunteered were from the Church in Tokyo and they were instructed to help them deep clean and talk to the people.  The picture below shows some of the units.  It is hard to tell in this picture but they are not separate units but are hooked together and each family has only a small living space.

On Saturday evening we had our Relief Society social.  We had dinner and I was amazed at the plethora of food (this is only half of the table!):



There was tons of sushi, salads, meats, tempura, strawberries, and desserts.  Unfortunately, I am feeling rather large after this week's feasting.

BUT I am sure you will be interested to know that my FAVORITE of all this week still has not been mentioned!  We walked 2 miles to a small vegetable shop in the downtown district and bought a large head of lettuce.  I have not really seen that here before.  Anyway, this lettuce was so crisp and juicy and made the BEST grilled chicken salad I can remember.  It was topped off with red pepper strips, mushrooms and green onion and caesar dressing.  It was by FAR my favorite food of the week (some of you are laughing because you know I love grilled chicken salad!).  Calvin will probably disagree because he loves sushi and other Japanese food but I can have my opinion too I guess.  I am now looking forward to many more salads here in Japan!


OTHER NOTABLE NOTES:

*  I loved getting out and walking this week.  I have decided to stop complaining about the weather here.  It has started to warm up (it is usually at least 45 degrees!) and at least we aren't freezing in our apartment either.

*  I took some banana cake and cookies to institute class on Wednesday.  Everyone loves refreshments and around here they gladly take home leftovers.  The funny thing is that they are convinced I cook American food although I get everything off the internet and buy all the ingredients here.  Plus hardly anyone cooks from scratch around here.

*  We felt the 6.8 earthquake this past week.  It was actually quite a ways away from here but we did feel it.  It was not that strong but the unusual thing was it lasted over a minute.  Most earthquakes we have felt don't last more than 10 seconds.  Then that evening we felt 3-4 more small aftershocks.  That is also unusual because there aren't usually more than one a day.

*  We are going to the Tokyo temple and Costco this week.  Stay tuned!!!!!!!

ONE YEAR AGO . . .

So today is the one year anniversary of the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011.  Another missionary couple that we know had just arrived in Japan two or three days before w this happened.  They said they were in their car when the earthquake hit and it lasted for TWELVE MINUTES!  It came in waves but never really stopped.  It was so violent at times that their heads were bouncing off the inside top of their car.  Then about a half hour later at 2:46 p.m. the tsunami hit.  Almost everyone remembers the time.  In that short amount of time people were being warned of the tsunami and told to go to higher ground.  Sirens were sounding.

Today we went to Hiyoriyama Park which overlooks Ishinomaki.  We could see all around the city, to the ocean, and the river that empties into the ocean.  We were there with a few hundred others who wanted to be there when it was 2:46 p.m.  At that time sirens sounded for about 30 seconds.  There were large tents set up with dignitaries in one and a Buddhist service in another.  No one spoke out loud.  Everyone whispered.  This is a picture of part of the view that we had:

This picture above is near the mouth of the river and there is an island which was just about totally leveled.  There used to be buildings on it.  In the middle there is a statue of liberty.  Interestingly enough, that statue is about all that made it through the tsunami.  The water was up to the top of the statue.  The land around the river was flooded a lot.  The main downtown area is to the left of the picture and it was hit hard.  Most of the buildings are gone.

Yesterday we had a service project south of us near Sendai.  We went to a school which had been damaged, probably not fixable, to make some paper lanterns with candles in them to float down the river there today in memory of those who lost their lives.   We made 3,000-4,000 lanterns.  Altogether about 12,000 died in the tsunami.  Here are is a picture of that service project:

And here are some pictures from the school.  Notice how the fence which is made of iron or steel is all smashed down.  Also there is a clock on the school which has stopped at 2:46 (when the tsunami hit).

This next picture is a boat which is in back of the school.  There were three boats in back of the school.  We could not even see the ocean and there were still boats in the back yard.

This picture below shows the area around the school.  There is nothing but a lot of foundations from houses that used to be there.

The rest of these pictures are random photos of what we have seen:  huge heap of garbage (several stories high), concrete building on its side, building with a car on top of it, rubble, and what is left of a cemetary:



Whenever we go to these places it seems like we are on hallowed ground.  It is like there is still a spirit there of these people.  Everyone we talk to talks about the tsunami.  Many people are still haunted by it.  Today there are 340,000 people living in the three hardest hit prefectures (kind of like states) that are living in temporary housing units.  They are allowed to live there for one more year.  No one knows where they will go then.  Some may rent their units but they are tiny.

Today I realized that I thought of the events as a remembrance of what happened.  The people here think of it as a life-changing event in their lives and a day of REMEMBERING.  I also came to realize that I have a long way to go in learning humility, compassion and charity.  These people are way better at it than I am.

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE:

This has been a pretty serious blog but I wanted to tell you a few lighter moments we have had this week.  Last week I think I mentioned about how sometimes things are lost in translation.  This week a few more things were said that I thought were funny.

Today in Sunday School we were talking about "feasting" on the words of Christ.  The teacher asked what the difference was between a regular meal and a feast.  Here are a couple of responses (the Japanese can have a great sense of humor):

           *A feast has a lot more calories.

           *You can eat a regular meal with chopsticks.  A feast involves a knife and fork.

After church I approached one of the women and volunteered to bring some food to our Relief Society (women's group) social this Saturday.  They were very excited and said yes could I bring a dessert?  I then said (in English) "I can bring chocolate cake and ice cream."  They jumped up and down and clapped.  Apparently chocolate cake and ice cream is universal language.

Yesterday I was talking to one of the younger sister missionaries from Utah.  She was paired with a companion from Japan.  She was saying how they were teaching each other their own language and that sometimes it became a fun experience.  Her Japanese companion had had a problem and she came to this sister and said, "I had an accident!"  This American sister stifled a laugh and said that was probably not the best choice of words.

RANDOM WRITINGS

So I couldn't think of any huge and monumental thing to write about this week so I decided to write a few random thoughts and happenings around here.  (For those of you who think ALL of my thoughts are random, sorry about that.)

Lost in Translation?:

It is kind of a tradition in Japan to give food to the missionaries.  We have heard that some areas get lots of stuff but we have not been overwhelmed (thankfully).  Anyway, when the people give you something they say, "I want you to have this furuto basketo."  Translation:  fruit basket.  Never mind that they have just handed you a plastic grocery bag with no fruit in it!  And since I know some of you are dying to know what is really in these bags, these are some of the thing we have gotten:  fresh fish, ham (more like bacon around here), Johnsonville hot dogs (really expensive), canned corn and beans, spaghetti and macaroni, and salsa.  I think they are trying to give us American food.  But, nevertheless, we are always grateful because many of these things are foods I don't buy because they are expensive. 

Why We Don't Order Pizza:

This week we got an advertisement in the mail (not all that usual) about a pizza delivery place.  Apparently it is one of the more well-known places for pizza in Japan.  Here is a sample of what you can order (no tax or delivery charge or tip): 
           Thickly sliced bacon with corn pizza        small:  $10.97             large:  $29.66
           Seafood Italian pizza                                                                     large:  $44.49
           Purokogi Potato pizza (teriyaki?)                                                  large:  $33.89
           Tuna Mayo pizza                                                                           large:  $35.33
           Hawaiian                                                    small:  $14.39             large:  $35.33
I converted the prices into US dollars.  Also the Hawaiian is considered a "kids" pizza.

Sickly:

Calvin suffered from a cold much of this week so we didn't get out as much as usual.  Here is his sickly picture:

We went to our branch president's house this past Friday evening and had a family night with his family.  They served us dinner (ham, rice, avacado-mayo-shrimp salad, miso soup, potatoes).  Then we had a lesson on the Parable of the Talents in Matthew and then everyone showed off their talents with a talent show.  It was a fun activity and the boys (ages 10 and 11) actually got into the fun by showing us some of their talents (magic trick and yo yo tricks).  My talent was the dessert.  I made chocolate pudding cake in a rice cooker!  It worked great, especially topped with vanilla ice cream.  For those of you who don't know what chocolate pudding cake is, it is a chocolate cake or almost a brownie which ends up in a pudding sauce on the bottom.  Very yummy.  This is the recipe:

            Chocolate Pudding Cake:
            Butter the rice cooker pan (or 9X13 pan for you less adventurous)
            Mix together in a bowl:  1 c. flour, 3/4 c. sugar, 3 Tbsp cocoa, 2 tsp baking powder,
                    1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 c. milk, 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil.  Pour into pan.
            Sprinkle on top of batter:  3/4 c. brown sugar, 1/4 c. cocoa
            Pour 1 3/4 c. boiling water over all.
            Punch the rice cooker button.  (or cook at 350 till done)
            It should come out with the pudding on the bottom.  Don't overcook or the pudding will
                      absorb too much into the cake.  My rice cooker took about 50 minutes and then I
                      left it for about 10 minutes more to cook a little more.

Everyone loved this!  The Japanese LOVE chocolate and ice cream.  I couldn't go wrong!

Holidays in Japan:

We have seen a few holidays in Japan.  Nothing major. 
            Feb. 2:  Setsubun Day.  You throw beans out of your window or doorway to ward off
                         evil spirits
            Feb. 14:  Valentines Day.  Not nearly as exciting as in the States.  The girls give
                          chocolate to the boys (romantic inclinations, office workers, just friends)
            Mar. 14:  White Day.  Hasn't come yet but apparently the guys now give chocolate
                          back to the girls that gave them chocolate for Valentines Day.  Sounds like a
                          retail scam to me!  The guys are encouraged to outdo the girls.
            Mar. 3:  Girls Day.  The girls display their dolls and are honored.

Weather:

We are tired of winter!  Our new hope is that spring will come soon and we will WALK wherever we can.  Nothing is that far away!

Indulgences:

For me, I bought an ice cream sundae at McDonald's.
For Calvin,  we bought two boxes of Swiss Miss hot cocoa mix which were on clearance ($2.50
      each/10 in a box)

Look forward:

That's about all I have to write about but next Sunday is the anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami.  We are doing a service project this Saturday for it and we have been saving our pictures to show all of you what we have seen.  I noticed on the internet (KSL, MSN, etc) that they have been having video clips in remembrance of the tsunami.  Many of the clips are from here in Ishinomaki.
So till next week:  Have a good one!