Thanks Dad A!!

Dad A sent us a wonderful package for our anniversary - thank you so much! We had a relaxing anniversary, and spent the day recovering from our trip to China. We'll share our China experience in the next few blog posts... stay tuned :)

How did all that stuff fit in one little box!? Filled with our favorite candies, marshmallow fluff for Emily, and artificial syrup for Joe (we can't find fake syrup in Japan!).

Love the Bell's shirts! Thanks again :)

SUMO!

We went to watch our first Sumo match right before we left for China. There are six Grand Sumo Tournaments a year - only 1 in Nagoya (every July). Each tournaments goes for 15 days, starting about 8:00am and lasting until about 6:00pm each day. The day starts out with beginners, and ends with the most popular and highest-ranked sumo wrestlers. It was a long day, but very fun!

You sit on mats on the floor (the purple mats behind us). If you want an actual seat, you have to sit in the back few rows of the stadium.

The ring (dohyo), made with clay and sand.

Sumo wrestlers gather in a circle around the referee in the ring-entering ceremony. Wrestlers wear an embroidered silk 'apron' for the ceremony, which I read costs between $3,000-$5,000!

The winner of a sumo bout is either: 1) the first wrestler to force his opponent to step out of the ring, or 2) the first wrestler to force his opponent to touch the ground with any part of his body.

There are no weight divisions in sumo wrestling... so weight doesn't matter, and sometimes a wrestler will face an opponent twice his own weight. Do you think this little guy had a chance against the big one? Actually, the little guy won.

Updates and such

We are going on vacation to China! We leave tomorrow afternoon, and will be gone for 11 days. We're going to Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong! So I thought I would give you an update of some things going on before we leave.

I'll start with... I'm finally done with my Japanese class!! It was a stressful couple of months, and I'm relieved that it's over. I'm taking the summer off, and then I might continue with private lessons in the fall. I discovered that Japanese is a difficult language to learn, and I'm not sure if I'm that committed to learning it. I think I would do better with private lessons - to learn more conversation skills rather than grammar. So we'll see. Joe, on the other hand, has been doing well. He's been taking 2 private lessons a week and seems to be committed.

I updated our pictures website. So you can see all of our photos from spring and summer on: http://emilyandjoepictures.shutterfly.com/

Joe received an award for his exceptional performance and hard work at Boeing/MHI!!! He's been a dedicated worker, and was recognized for his commitment and leadership skills by his Manager, Senior Manager, and the Director of the 787 program for Asia. I'm so proud of him!


The girls from the cosmetology school contacted me again to do another event. They made me into an "ice bride," and I got to do a modeling shoot at a local photography studio in Nagoya.

I really am wearing clothes... a tube top. The stuff on my head was so incredibly heavy. My hair/head hurt for several days!

Close up! They always put a lot of detail into the jewels/body art.

Moroccan Restaurant: Casablanca

We went out to a Moroccan restaurant on Friday evening with friends, Mio & Joe. It was our first experience with Moroccan style food - and we loved it! It's quite possibly my new favorite restaurant in Nagoya.

The inside of the restaurant was decorated very cute. Clothing hanging on the walls, and pillows/bench style seating.

Appetizer platter, with: kabobs, falafil, hummus, spring rolls, salads, and dips.

Beef couscous... yum!

A 30-minute belly dancing show. The dancer tried to get Joe M to come on stage.... he wasn't thrilled about the idea.

Ended the evening with Moroccan mint tea.... by far the best tea I have ever had!!! Even Joe liked it, and that says a lot.

Tokyo Disneyland & Disney Sea

I've met an amazing group of girls from my ikebana and yukata classes. We took a 2-day girls trip to Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea in May! From left to right: me, Emily from Indiana, Penny from Canada, Meagan from Michigan, Mio from Seattle, and Louise from Scotland.

The castle looks the same as Disney Orlando, but I was disappointed that Tinkerbell didn't fly out of the top window during the fireworks show at night. The park was made up of 7 different themed areas: World Bazaar, Adventureland, Westernland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Critter Country, and Mickey's Toontown.

One of my favorite Disney characters! I love Eeyore! And yes, we are all wearing Mikey shirts!

On the monorail to Disney Sea. We loved how the hand-holders were mickey mouse shaped. It was truly such a magical experience! Disney is the only place where adults feel like kids again! :)

DisneySea was almost like a small version of Epcot in Orlando. Each section of the park was a different theme: American Waterfront, Lost River Delta, Port Discovery, Mermaid Lagoon, Arabian Coast, and Mysterious Island.

The gigantic volcano, Mount Prometheus, located in the center of the park.

Yes, we all bought Minni Mouse ears, and yes we wore them around the entire time! :) Like I said above, Disney is the only place where you feel like a kid again... so fun!!

Ikebana: May & June

Here are a few pictures of my recent ikebana arrangements from May and June.

This piece may not look like much... but it's by far the most difficult arrangement I've had to do. Only two different materials were used, and the rule to this style is that all materials must be in a straight line (see picture below). I believe it's called Shoka style.

All materials must be in a straight line facing the front to create ONE single line.

Again, this style used only 2 materials... and it had to be in a single file line facing the front. Very difficult! Apparently these materials are only available during the summer, so my teacher made us try this style a few weeks in a row. It's not my favorite, but neat to learn.

This is the same style (Shoka style) with a single-file line - but uses only one material.

Shoka free-style.

Free-style!

Thank you!

We sent out our new address via e-mail last week. This blog is public, so we didn't want to post our address on here! If we missed anyone, please let us know.

We want to say thank-you to Lori & family for the awesome package they gave us in Austin. Filled with candy, pictures, and even pink chocolate chip pancake mix! Here are a few pictures of the incredibly cute pancakes....

A big thank-you to Mom-A for sending us a delicious package full of goodies this week! :) And thank you to Jenny for bringing us chocolate chips & regular pancake syrup... and Stephanie and Matt for bringing us twizzler pull & peels, orange slices, and pam cooking spray!

Everyone has been so thoughtful with emails, cards, phone calls, packages, etc. We are so fortunate to have such wonderful family and friends! We just passed the 6 month mark, and homesickness is starting to sink in. So thank you to everyone for your continuous effort to make our lives living abroad easier. We miss you all so much!!!

YouTube Video

I have been working on a blog post to tell you about some of the differences between Japan and the U.S. But it's not quite done - so in the meantime, here is an interesting youtube video about Japan. It's 11-minutes long, but if you have the time... watch it! It's pretty interesting how Japan differs from the rest of the word. It's somewhat controversial and subject to opinion, but from what we have experienced so far appears to be true!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgsbIfI0uIg

Worship

When you visit the Buddhist temples, it can be pretty confusing as to what you can/should do. Some people are bowing, others are giving money, some are sincerely worshiping, while others are just tourists and want to take pictures. There was finally a sign in English at one of the temples explaining the traditional steps for how to worship:

1 - Make a slight bow.
2 - Pace a monetary offering in the box.
3 - Bow twice deeply.
4 - Clap your hands slowly.
5 - And bow once deeply.

There are not many churches here in Nagoya. Joe and I visited a church a couple of months ago... it was held in a classroom, and there were only about 10 people there (including us). We're still searching for a church that suits are needs here, until then we watch sermons online from our church in Seattle each week. It's actually pretty cool to watch and follow the pastor's sermons online: http://www.marshillchurch.org/

Traditions

While visiting temples and shrines, we have learned about a couple different traditions in Japan.....

Waterfall. This is the Otowa Waterfall in Kyoto. People line up to fill their cup from the waterfall and drink the water. A sip of the water is supposed to cure any illness and bring good luck.

Fortunes. You shake the canister and turn it upside down to get one stick. The stick has a code on it, which represents what your fortune is. The staff replace your stick with a piece of paper which holds your fortune. "Keeping your wishes in mind, shake well this fortune box. Remember your number of the stick from the small hole. Show your number and have your good fortune." - quote from a sign at the temple.

Then you tie your fortune on a rack to bring good luck.

An area to tie your fortune at a different temple.

Wishes. You write your wish/needs/desires on the wood board, then hang it on the temple that represents the god you are asking (different temples are for different gods).