Buddhist remembrance services

It has been 6 years since my grandma passed away, and because we are entering the 7th year without her, we had a special ceremony at home. A local monk came to do some readings for my grandma. The readings are chanted and Rob said he found the chanting very soothing.
According to my dad,in Shin-Buddisum dead people go back to a place called ‘ojoudo’, which is like heaven. So Buddhist remembrance services are held on the first, third and seventh anniversaries. These ceremonies are held to mark the different steps the soul takes in it's journey to heaven and are followed by further ceremonies on the 13th, 17th, 23rd, 27th and 33rd anniversaries.
My family is not a strong religious family, so I cannot tell you a lot about Buddhism; sorry. All I know is that it is important to recognize our evilness and self-interest, and the limitations of our abilities to counter these. After recognizing our weaknesses, we then live life trying to overcome them and become a ‘good’ person.


After the ceremony, my father and his older brother’s family ate lunch together and then we played dominoes and other games. Every one had a really good time chatting and being social. I am not very close to my dad’s side of the family. In fact, I have only met one brother out of his 7 siblings. So it was really great to see how much my dad enjoyed this special day with his brother.

Baseball!!!!!!

I am getting a little bit out of sequence here but on Friday 15th April, Mami and I travelled to Hiroshima to watch the Hiroshima Carps, our baseball team, play the Tokyo Giants.

The trip to Hiroshima is an hour by car or a half hour by shinkansen. I love train travel so I persuaded Mami to make the trip by ‘Densha’ which is the equivalent of our trains, except that they run on time. The trip by densha took 2 hours and ran the scenic route around the coastline, stopping at towns along the way. It was a very relaxing trip and nice to travel in a train where you could still open a window to get some fresh air. Mami was so surprised by how much she enjoyed the ride she chose to travel home by densha the next day instead of using the shinkansen.
On arriving in Hiroshima at 12.00 noon we put our bag in a locker at the station and had a look around the city before booking into our hotel. It was a nice hotel and true to Mami’s diligent research, also very cheap with breakfast thrown in.
Then it was off to the game. The ballpark was walking distance from the hotel, so after purchasing a Bento Box (packaged meal), we joined the throng making their way through the twilight to the game.

Giants started very well with 3 runs in the first innings and then there was no scoring from either team until the seventh innings where Carp scored 2 runs. In the eighth innings we kept Giants scoreless and scored a run to equal the game. The ninth and final innings saw Giants steal the lead back with another run and with the Carps two out and the third batter, Ishihara, who was discarded by another team because he was too old, on two strikes and no balls I thought it was game over. However Ishihara toughed it out fouling numerous balls and astutely leaving any pitch that was not a strike and after about 12 pitches finally got a walk to first. The crowd, including Mami and I went wild. Ishihara was then replaced by a pinch runner who stole first on the next pitch. More furious cheering!! The next batter hit a one base centre field hit which brought the runner home and the crowd went bananas!! Unfortunately the next batter went out, leaving us with a 4-4 draw in a very close and exciting game. It was a great night.
The balloons you see in the picture are released in the home team’s seventh inning and have whistles attached so when they are set free the air coming out of the balloon sounds the whistle. It sounds like a bombing raid with thousands of these balloons released simultaneously. As you can see the crowd really gets involved in the game and becomes a spectacle in itself.
We needed a calming ride home on the densha the next day to unwind from the previous night’s excitement.

8 weeks left

We have booked flights back to Melbourne. When we were talking to Maurice on Skype, Rob said “We will be back in 8 weeks.”I knew there are 2 months left, but 8 weeks sounds much shorter than 2 months. Yeah, I know I was never good at math, but 8 weeks means 8 more weekends and today is the end of the last 8th weekend in Japan.
I am certainly excited about seeing Tommy, family and friends. But I cannot imagine saying good bye to my family and finishing this lazy life. It has been really good spending time with my family. I thought this would never happen, but thanks to my husband and my family, we managed to live the dream in Japan. I know I still have 8 weeks but cannot help myself being a bit sentimental.
We must plan a few more trips and keep having fun here. I am certainly enjoying this ‘life’ and will continue to enjoy this very special life for 2 more months with my family.

MAMI'S BIRTHDAY

The Birthday Mami so desperately wanted to avoid arrived on Thursday 21st April.


We started the day with an hour's drive to Hiroshima with Nana to see if we could find the type of ring Mami had her heart set on. We had seen one in a market in Hiroshima the week before but it was the only one and it was too small! If you have ever seen the size of Mami's fingers, it beggars belief that any ring could ever be too small, but it was.


We looked at a few shops without luck and then, ventured into the most expensive jewellery shop in the shopping complex. I could have bought a car for the price of some of the rings in that shop. I had told Mami she could have whatever she wanted, all the time counting on her frugal nature to come to the fore in the decision making process. I began to sweat a little when she entered this shop and was subtly edging toward the door when I spotted a ring in a display near the door. It must have been the cheapest ring in the shop but was almost identical to the ring that Mami had seen the week before.


I called out to her but she was engaged in a conversation with the salesgirl. The next moment the salesgirl approached me, picked out the ring I was looking at and walked back to Mami.

Needless to say that is the ring which you now see on her finger. It was obviously meant to be.
That evening we had a small party with the family at home. It was fun and good for Mami to be able to share this milestone with her family. This Saturday we will be going out for a buffet meal (called 'Viking' meals in Japan) to celebrate in style.

MARKET DAY

On Sunday we set up our stall at one of the local markets in Yamaguchi. The market is run by the hospital in Kudamatsu, a neighbouring suburb to Shunan where we live. It was very good value as you did not have to pay to rent a site.

The hospital makes it's money by running 100% of the food stalls on market day, so the trash and treasure store holders get a free site.

Mami and her parents cleaned out the house of all Yurina's old toys and games, clothes and crockery, bags (the women in this house, including Mami, had enough bags to start a department store!) and other odds and sods.

Mami also had her leather i-phone wallets and her mini-speakers in the shape of anime characters for computers and i-pods.

It was a beautiful Spring day and the market was well attended. All the old stuff sold well but Mami had trouble selling the phone wallets and speakers. The arrival of Yurie, our student, with two of her friends saved us on the speakers. They bought two and were delighted with their purchase.

The day was a big success overall with Mami making a bit over $300 for the day and the house is now almost free of stuffed toys!!

A JOB AT LAST!!

When we got to Japan three months ago Mami had every intention of getting a job. She created a website advertising her services (and mine) as English conversation tutors.
Initially there were no responses and we gradually got used to a, what shall we call it, a relaxed lifestyle. That was interrupted three weeks ago when someone emailed Mami wanting English tuition. We both went along and met Yurie (pronounced Yuri-eh) at a coffee shop in the local shopping centre. She is a 22 year old student who is studying graphic design with heavy emphasis on fashion and colour.
Mami and I now meet her twice a week in our favourite coffee shop to share coffee and conversation for around 45mins. It is fun and although I didn’t think I would enjoy it, it is very relaxing just talking and drinking coffee in a laid back environment. Yurie is making great progress with her speaking and both Mami and I are rapt to have a student who is so keen and willing to learn.
Last week Mami had another email and we will be meeting Mayumi, a 36 year old mum who wants to speak English. I told Mami two will be my limit but I think Mami may have her own ideas on that. For the moment though it is good fun and the money, although not great, helps pay for some of our little indulgences.

JAPANESE HUMOUR??

I thought this picture gave a whole new meaning to the term ‘Drill Sergeant’. I had to chase this guy half way across the park outside Kumamoto Castle to get the shot. I just thought it was funny, hope someone shares the joke??

Kumamoto Castle

On the 4-day Kyushuu Trip, we also visited one of the biggest cities in Kyushu, Kumamoto. There was an historic castle in Kunamoto and the grounds in and surrounding the castle were filled with beautiful flowers and an abundance of sakura (cherry blossom). It is a very beautiful place, especially at this time of the year and many couples use it as a venue to have wedding photos taken. Rob managed to photograph on of the couples, dressed in traditional costume, who were being professionally photographed for their wedding.

Mt Aso

We have just got back from a 4 day trip to Kyushuu. One of our purposes was to visit Mt Aso, the largest active volcano in Japan. Its peak is 1592 m above sea level. Since it is an active volcano, shelter dugouts are provided around the crater. We walked around the edge of the crater and got some great photographs of the sulphurous steam coming out of vents at the bottom. My dad told me we came here years ago, but I can not remember. The crater base used to have water in the middle, but now it's all dried out. There are a lot of cracks and some poeple say these and the lack of water suggest the volcano might erupt again soon...

Sakura in full bloom

Spring is finally here. Sakura is in full bloom. Japanese people seem to suddenly become so relaxed when Sakura is around. Families and couples spend time together, sitting around parks and rivers to have a picnic. I certainly love this season. If you ever decide to come to Japan, Spring is definitely the time you should come.