Only in Japan

Japan....

Where people sincerely apologize for making a mistake... like the handwritten note I received on a package (and also notice - it's in English!)....

Where packages can be freely left out in the lobby by the delivery company, because no one would even consider stealing them...

Where attention to detail matters....

Where it's normal for individual cakes/treats to look like this....

And for individual birthday cakes for children to look like this....

A country where gentleman working on road construction will help you safely cross the road quickly and with a smile...

Where store employees run (literally, RUN!) to get something for you....

Where you can order something on Amazon and receive it in ONE day...

Where department store employees wait outside and deeply bow and give a warm "Irasshaimase!" to show gratitude to the first customers of the day...

Where people apologize because they can't understand me when I'm the one who moved to a foreign country and can't speak their language...

It's so easy to take all of this for granted. We are so thankful to be living abroad and experiencing these cultural differences first-hand.

Shinto Blessing & Sayonara Party

Last Sunday was a special day because Ethan recieved a Shinto blessing at a nearby shrine, which was then followed by Louise & Cal's "Sayonara Party."

Louise and Cal have been such good friends to us here in Nagoya, and we will miss them dearly! But they have lived here for 5+ years and are ready to begin their new adventure in Shanghai, China. Louise and I have especially become close, because of being pregnant at the same time, giving birth within 2 days of one another, and learning how to be new parents together. We have certainly shared so many experiences together!! Not only that, but we live in the same building - so we often go out to lunch, walk together to baby swimming, etc. It won't be the same here without them, that's for sure.

On Sunday, their son Ethan received a special Shinto blessing at nearby Nagoya Shrine.

So we dressed Elodie in her first yukata (summer Kimono) and then road to the shrine on our new bike!!

Happy to be in her yukata :)

Loving the new bike!

It was neat to witness a Shinto blessing. It's one of those unique Japanese experiences that we'll always remember. Even though we obviously couldn't understand anything that was being said, it was clear that they were praying for the Ethan's health and happiness.

The priest started the ceremony by thumping a huge wooden drum several times, which was followed by everyone standing to bow deeply twice and then clap their hands twice. The priest then began a low-pitched chant which I'm assuming was "to watch over and protect Ethan," as is most Shinto blessings. His voice was so deep that it almost sounded like a booming hum. The priest then waved a giant wand (which almost looked like a mop of white paper streamers) over Ethan and his parents, as well as the guests. The ceremony concluded with everyone drinking a glass of sake.

Receiving sake.

Photograph with the priest - Ethan was interested in his hat!

After the blessing, we headed over to Louise & Cal's sayonara party. Louise ordered quite a bit of food from a catering service, so we were able to enjoy Japanese cuisine including sushi, egg-rolls, and dumplings, as well as Western food like fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, and salads.

Ethan & Elodie hanging out in their yukatas... and maybe a little smooch too :)

Overall a great day with great friends. We will greatly miss these guys!!!

Mt. Nyukasa Hike

We went with our good friends, Miyoko & Kiyoshi, to the prefecture of Nagano to hike to the top of Mt. Nyukasa. It was almost a 3 hour drive to get to the mountain from Nagoya. I was a little nervous with how Elodie would do in the car for that long each way, but she did great!

In the winter, this mountain is a ski resort. But in the summer, you can still take the gondola to near the top of the mountain. The gondola ride itself was very nice - beautiful views of the surrounding mountains as well as the woods below, where we also passed over several mountain-bike trails.

After the gondola ride, you take a short 20-minutes walk on a path through wild flowers, forest, and marshland. Then it's just another short (but steep!) 40-minute hike to the summit, where there were outstanding 360 degree views! On a sunny day, apparently you can even see Mt. Fuji in the distance. But unfortunately for us, it was a cloudy day.

The start of our hike, through the forest.

Boardwalk path through the wild flowers & marshlands.

We stopped and had a picnic for lunch - first time Elodie has seen grass!

One of the spectacular views from the top.

We made it!

We sat around to enjoy the breathtaking views at the top, while Elodie napped in the backpack. Then we headed back down through the forest, flowers, and marshland. Once we reached the end, we were definitely ready for our discounted ice cream (rhubarb and vanilla) and for the gondola ride back down to the base of the mountain.

It was a long day --- we left our house at 7:30am, and didn't get home until 7:30pm. As I said above, it was a 3 hour car ride each way, and then of course a long day of sight-seeing and hiking in between. But it was great to get out of the city for the day and enjoy the beautiful mountains and countryside of Japan.

It's pretty pathetic that Elodie is almost 10-months old and has never seen grass before! But I guess that's what you get when you live in the city.

It was a very fun day! I'll post an album of more pictures from our hike on our shutterfly site.

Japanese Food

Upon hearing that Joe's favorite Japanese dish is okonomiyaki, Miyoko and her husband Kiyoshi were quick to invite us to dinner at their house. They made a variety of Japanese dishes for us to try. I love how they used this electric griddle type of pan to make the dishes in the center of the table. It was fun to watch how they prepare & cook all of the food.

Miyoko and Kiyoshi

The first dish they made was okonomiyaki. I know I've described this several times in previous blogs, because it's Joe's favorite dish and we eat it often. It's a Japanese "pancake" made with cabbage, squid, green onion, pork, egg, and batter (or pretty much whatever you want to put in it); then topped with okonomiyaki sauce, mayo, fish & seaweed flakes.

okonomiyaki

Next they made tacoyaki - which basically means "fried octopus balls." Although they know I'm not a huge fan of eating octopus, so they left out the "taco" and put cheese in the middle instead. Very good!!!

tacoyaki - minus the taco and plus cheese & ginger

They also made ramen and yakisoba, which unfortunately I failed to take pictures of. But both were also fantastic! Miyoko and her husband are great cooks and we really enjoyed learning how to make all of these Japanese dishes. I can make okonomiyaki and yakisoba at home - but it never turns out quite as good as theirs.

Fun night with great friends!

Thank you, Miyoko and Kiyoshi, for inviting us for dinner. We had a wonderful time! :)

Father's Day

Happy 1st Father's Day to an amazing husband and father. Elodie and I truly appreciate all you do, every single day. We love you!! :)

Store Opening Party or Halloween?

Our good friend, Akko, recently opened her own pet grooming shop in Nagoya. She's always had the dream of owning her own business - and while her ultimate dream is to open a Japanese restaurant in the U.S. - she's currently settling for her own pet shop here in Japan.

While she specializes in pet grooming, she also sells a variety of pet supplies - dog/cat food, pet clothes, toys, etc. It's a very cute shop!

Anyway, we were invited to the grand opening party, which included only family and close friends. There were several Japanese and Western style appetizers, as well as a variety of drinks. We sat around chatting, eating and drinking.

We learned that it's customary to give a plant (usually huge orchid plants) for a store opening event.

One of the orchid plants that Akko received.

After full bellies and several drinks, Miyoko brought out a bag full of random hats and masks. Everyone was quite excited about this, and took turns putting them on and posing for pictures. I don't know if this is a Japanese custom... or if we just have a silly group of friends...!? :)

Everyone loved dressing up!

I don't know if the night got even more silly or possibly a tad bit serious when the gun came out! Miyoko brought out the photos from her trip to the U.S., (specifically the ones where she was holding a gun) and that prompted her brother to bring out a 250-year old Japanese gun. He enjoyed showing Joe the gun and having him hold & pose with it.

Joe & Miyoko's husband, Kyoshi

 A fun night with great friends!!

Miso Soup & Bento Boxes

My good friends, Miyoko and Akemi, came over to our apartment to teach me how to make Japanese miso soup. Miso soup is a traditional Japanese soup, and is served with almost every meal. The main ingredients are a stock called "dashi," miso paste, and water. Other ingredients vary depending on the region and season. They taught me how to make the soup using regular tofu, fried tofu, seaweed, and onions.

Many foreigners dislike the strong taste of miso, but I absolutely love it! Funny how I've always been pegged as the picky eater growing up, and now I'm eating more foods than anyone would have ever expected!

Slicing the tofu.

Preparing the ingredients.

The finished product!

While eating our miso soup, we had an interesting conversation about making breakfast for our husbands that I thought I would share...

Miyoko: "What do you make for breakfast for Joe?"
Me: "I don't."
Miyoko: "Eehhhh! Who makes breakfast for him?"
Me: "He makes it himself!"
Miyoko: "What about lunch? What do you prepare for him to take to work?"
Me: "Ummm, he makes his own lunch too."
Miyoko: "Wow!! You are lucky!!!"

Miyoko: "What about on the weekends? Do you make breakfast for him then?"
Me: "Yes, on most weekends I do. Although sometimes he makes breakfast for me."
Miyoko: "Eehhh! Wow! You are very lucky!"

I'm always intrigued to learn about the cultural differences, especially when it comes to family roles.

Through this conversation, I learned that it's customary for women to get up earlier than their husbands to make them breakfast. Wives are also expected to prepare lunch for their husbands and kids, so most of the time they get up considerably earlier than the men. And I'm not talking about whipping a sandwich together or brown bagging it - I'm talking about traditional bento style lunches - healthy, detailed, and prepared with thought.

Of course, younger generations are changing this tradition - as more and more women are getting full-time jobs, and couples in general are marrying much later in life. But bento has and continues to be a strong Japanese tradition.

Have you ever seen a bento? It's seriously spectacular! It's crazy to think about the amount of time and thought that goes into preparing a meal. I was always amazed when I was working at an elementary school here with the lunches that these kiddos brought to school - foods shaped like cartoon characters and animals... and overall colorful healthy combinations of foods from every food group. Seriously amazing. I can't even describe it, you need to see pictures....

If you're interested in learning more about bento boxes, I recommend reading (or just looking at the pictures of bentos) from the article A Japanese Life of Bento.

9 Months!!

Elodie is 9 months old today! She's had quite the exciting month - went to Guam for a week, got her bottom two teeth, had her first ponytail, started scooting backwards while on her tummy, officially started babbling with lots of "da-da, ba-ba, & ya-ya's," and last night she finally started clapping! :)

Happy 9 months to our happy little peanut!

Cormorant Fishing

We finally went cormorant fishing - one of the top things Joe has wanted to do since we arrived 2 and a half years ago! It was quite the experience, and we're glad we had the opportunity to do it. But when I say we went cormorant fishing, what I mean is that we watched Japanese cormorant fishing masters fish from a nearby boat. It's quite the tourist activity, so you can board a small wooden boat and dine/drink while you watch the fishing take place.

 Boarding our tour boat.

So what is cormorant fishing? It's a traditional method in which fisherman use cormorant birds to catch fish. Basically, the fisherman tie a snare near the base of the bird's throat to prevent them from swallowing the fish. The cormorants are tied to a rope held by the fisherman - then the birds dive underwater to catch the fish. After the bird gets a mouth-full of fish, the fisherman brings the bird back up to the boat to spit out the fish.

Cormorant fishing.

Cormorant fishing has taken place for over 1300 years. We learned that it is handed down hereditarily, and there are 6 fishing masters in the Nagara area.

The fishing master has 2 helpers on board the boat as well. So the team of 3 men float up and down the river to catch ayu, a sweet fish, that is apparently very expensive in Japan. The fishing takes place after the sun goes down, around 8pm. The boat is guided by a wood bonfire. The fishing masters wear special outfits to protect themselves from the sparks of the fire.

Here's a quick video of the men fishing on our tour.

 
The life span of a wild cormorant is about 7-8 years, but the cormorants used for fishing are well cared for and treated like family by the fishing masters.... so their life span is 15-20 years!

Fireworks!!

The night ended with fireworks over the river. It was a beautiful setting - sitting in a Japanese wooden boat on the river, Gifu castle lit up in the distance on top of a mountain, and topped with fireworks above! Apparently there was a wedding nearby - and the fireworks were specifically for the wedding celebration. Very nice!

Privacy

After much deliberation, we have decided to make our blog private.  I love that people enjoy reading our stories and learning about our expat life in Japan. Currently there are 32,597 total pageviews! 168 readers just yesterday! But as much as I enjoy sharing, we've decided that it's time to only allow close family and friends to read it.

Our blog has become our life journal, and because of that it's very personal. We also need to think about our sweet little girl, who we no longer want to broadcast over the internet for the whole world to see.

So what does this mean for you?

Basically, we are going to password protect the blog. So every time you want to access the page, you will be required to enter the password. If you want to continue reading the blog, please email us at joe.emily.schreurs@gmail.com so that we can send you the password.

We're sorry for the inconvenience, but we hope you understand that privacy is important!

Also, just a heads up that we will also be adding privacy settings to our shutterfly site. We will most likely use the same privacy settings, so you will be required to enter a password to view the pictures.

This will go into effect in one week!!!