Christmas!

Merry Christmas! It is already December 25th on this side of the hemisphere and what is Japan doing today? ... going to school and work as usual ... as they did last night on Christmas Eve also.

When I first came to Japan I was horrified that no one acknowledged Christmas whatsoever and it was only in the churches that small gatherings of people somberly attended candlelight services on Christmas Eve. Nowadays the Japanese marketing world has changed things quite a bit but sometimes I think of Christmas past nostalgically. These days Christmas illuminations shine out, stores play Christmas music from just before Halloween, hotels offer romantic meals and services for young couples. In the supermarket the meat department is packed with roasted chicken legs and a girl dressed in a Santa suit sells decorated Christmas cakes stacked high on the table. But nary a person even realizes Christmas and Jesus are related.

This morning I did crosswalk duty as usual but got very little response from my "Merry Christmas!" greetings. The kids are just trying to get through today because winter vacation starts TOMORROW for them! (And it was touch and go for that even what with all the school days off because of influenza this year.)

On the other hand, I had a wonderful Christmas Eve last night. A student drove out from the next city over to bring me a box of chocolates which was ever so nice of her. And I loved the card she enclosed. SO Japanese! I wonder if you can see the details in this card. Santas pulling the "Christmas tree" in Japanese festival fashion with ornaments of cranes and cherry trees and Mt. Fuji at the top as a star.

And just as I was leaving the house for the Christmas Eve service (and realizing that I hadn't baked cookies as I often do) a package arrived special delivery from a blog friend, Yuki. Yuki (from Maryland) had offered to send me some patchwork patterns and I took her up on the offer. But wait! This box is much too big for a few sheets of patterns! (And the price of mailing! Whew, I hope Yuki didn't swoon when she went to the post office! Mailing to Japan is a killer, let me tell you!) I ripped open the box right there and then and out tumbled the patterns and candy for my English kids (that is where the weight came) and Christmas books for me to enjoy and some fancy chocolate truffles! Yuki wrote that I was to enjoy the truffles alone but they were too beautiful and TOO MANY for my waistline and so I took the truffles with me to the Christmas Eve service.

And at church, while my Japanese rendition of the Christmas pageant story was only so-so, Y-kun, the little boy that drives everyone crazy, came to the Christmas Eve service! What a surprise and a blessing! He sat next to me and was mesmerized by the candle set before him during the candle service, and he held my hand through the whole thing! I do hope God touched his heart last night.

Afterwards we all ate crackers and packaged cookies and Yuki-san's truffles which were especially appreciated by the evening visitors. Hmm! A taste of America! Thank you, Yuki-san! I grabbed three truffles for myself but it was your gift that set a smile on everyone's faces!

Let's see. Tetsu's vest fit him and though some reknitting may be required (I'll see if I can get him to model it later this week) that was also a success.

I went to bed early and put aside my Kindle for some reading from the Christmas books Yuki-san sent.

I think I'll sit tight today and eat my truffles and drink coffee and enjoy my good book.

Merry Christmas!

"So the people went away

to eat and drink at a festive meal,

to share gifts of food,

and to celebrate with great joy

because they had heard God's words

and understood them."

Nehemiah 8:12

New Living Translation

Ballet

Yesterday I joined some friends to watch a ballet performance of The Nutcracker Suite. My friend was dancing in the ballet and so a group of us decided to attend and get into the Christmas spirit. I don't think I've ever been to a ballet performance before and I had a really good time watching the graceful dancers and the lovely costumes, settings and backdrops.

AND remembering back to my grade school days.

Around the time I started kindergarten my mother realized I was obviously pigeon toed and knock kneed and so on the advice of a orthopedist, she enrolled me in ballet lessons. At age 5 I had a good time twirling around. As I got older I must have revealed my innate clumsiness because I stayed in the background, spent a lot of time falling on the floor and having toes, knees and elbows pushed and pulled into various positions. I THINK that I was still enthusiastic about ballet though and at around 4th or 5th grade even started with toe shoes.

One year at school there was a talent show and I confidently took a record of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite" and my toe shoes and a frilly costume and went onstage.

Last night as I was listening to Tchaikovsky's ballet I was thinking,

"Ah yes. It was right about HERE that I did a graceful arabesque... and fell part way off the elementary school stage."

That one traumatic misstep colored my life evermore for performing before people in any way, shape or form. And it was not long after the talent show that I discarded my toe shoes forever.

The dancers last night were so precise, so graceful, so ethereal and fragile looking. And in the audience there were other little girls watching the prima ballerina with shining eyes and dreams of becoming as beautiful as she.

All I can say is 'Watch out for elementary school stages'.

I am still knock-kneed.

Christmas preparations

Ah~ah~... I don't think I have sewed this whole month. A lot of knitting I guess but not too much color in these cold days... Today I've got to figure out how to block Tetsu's vest and then sew on some buttons and make some button holes. Hmm. Today is the 22nd. Think I can get it done?

By career I really am an English teacher and so yesterday was filled with English and kindergarten and nursery school. In one school the principal and I read the kids "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" which had been translated a few years back by one of my English students. And at the other school the kids were going through their final rehearsal of the Christmas program to be put on tomorrow.

Mifumi Kindergarten where I have taught for 20 years has some interesting policies. The principal frowns on video cameras at kindergarten events saying that parents should watch their children with the naked eye and not through a camera lens. A professional photographer films all the events for purchasing 'if necessary'.

And for Christmas, the parents and children exchange hand made gifts. This is fairly easy for the children since the teachers hold craft periods, and felt trees, macaroni wreaths and pine cone bells abound regularly. For the parents the hand made rule can be sort of a hassle though I agree with the thought. Mothers get busy making dolls and doll clothes. Fathers start hammering go-carts and puzzles. Sometimes groups form with one mother teaching other mothers how to make little-girl aprons and a ream of kindergarten girls will be decked out alike.

When Takumi was in kindergarten, I participated in a block-puzzle workshop and we sawed cubes of wood, glued them together and painted them different colors. Supposedly our children were going to become geniuses by playing with this puzzle and while I don't know about the genius aspect, it is true that Takumi still loves puzzles...

The mothers' handmade gift idea can get a little out of hand though because there is always the temptation to be the "super mom" and try to make the best toy in the kindergarten. In fact I spent about 6 months working on a quilt for Leiya but in the end I asked her not to open it at the kindergarten because I felt it would be taken that I was vying for center stage.

ANYWAY. Last week I showed a picture of the beautiful felt trees that one class made for the mothers this year, and yesterday there was a FLOCK of sheep standing under a starry sky ready to be presented to the mothers tomorrow. Isn't this just the cutest sheep?! The teacher helped the kids glue the wood and make the star but the kids made the sheep themselves. I wish one of my kids were still in kindergarten. I WANT A SHEEP!!!

To dust or not to dust...

(pictures from the Internet)Have you done your end of the year dusting yet?

This is the way it's done in Japan!

Of course my house may not get it done at all this year at the rate I'm going...

Hickory Dickory Dock

A quick run to the kindergarten yesterday for the Christmas program practice. Last week the principal had to cancel kindergarten for three days because so many kids were out with influenza. Yesterday there was still one class with only half the attendance. And the kindergarten program that was scheduled for yesterday had to be pushed back until the 23rd in hopes that all the kids will be over the flu by then.

I teach four classes at the kindergarten but the oldest class puts on a pageant so they don't have time to start learning English songs etc. That leaves three other classes.

The four year olds are going to sing "If I Were a Butterfly while I play the guitar. They are going to be great!

The three year old class with do an old standby "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" which may be interesting because some of the kids are so shy they hide behind the teachers.

And finally there is the just-turned-three year old class. Some of these kids hardly speak Japanese let alone start on English! But children that age can do about anything and still be the stars of the show and so this year they are mice and I am a clock. I will sing "Hickory, Dickory Dock" alone and call out the time and the mice "...run up the clock". With the BONG! BONG! the kids scream and run back to their place (hopefully). The teachers made some great mice caps!

I feel pretty silly but I guess the parents are going to be looking at their kids, not at me.

Cats and knitting

Christmas is getting closer. We are forgoing the Christmas tree this year because of the cats. They knocked down the tree within minutes last year so I'm not even trying this year.

Still knitting. I'm working on the armholes now. Some years Tetsu opens his present, tries it on and finds it too tight or short or flimsy and I spend all of New Years re-knitting the thing. You would think with all the years of making him vests and sweaters that I would be a better judge of how something is going to turn out.

And though you can't see the progress on the vest you can see how we all gather around the kerosene stove in the morning trying to keep warm. Of the cats, only Vel is missing from this picture.

And here's another one of a cat ball. Four cats in that ball. Chip can't find anyplace to squeeze in. This is a no-no of course because Mi is not supposed to be in there. I took her away after I snapped this shot. Mi so wants to be with the other kitties and she wants to cuddle. But she is not supposed to be licking the others nor vice versa so I have to disrupt this bundle of content and put her by herself. Well, she can't be in a completely perfect situation and I remind myself that she is loved and fed and warm...

And here is Mi on a favorite place, Tetsu's chest. She gets her cuddling from him when he is home.

"How much closer does she want to get? Her whiskers tickle!"

Earthquake again

We were awakened again this morning by an earthquake. And it was fairly large with the epicenter in our small prefecture. Since it was so close to getting up time anyway, Tetsu and I went downstairs wrapped in blankets and turned on the news. I guess there was an even larger earthquake in the central part of Japan too last night but no reported injuries etc. Maybe we are just jumpy.

I have felt two major earthquakes while I've lived in Japan. The first some 30 years ago when I was teaching in Northern Japan. A bunch of us were in the English office at the Christian Center where I worked when the earthquake hit and though the epicenter was in a far off city, our building really shook. As a Californian I had experienced a couple of earthquakes (nothing like the frequency in Japan!) so it was just hold onto the desk and wait. Some friends though from Michigan had never felt an earthquake and I remember the husband hanging onto the door frame with a terrified look on his face.

A few years later when I was living in a city on the Japan Sea side there was another large earthquake. In my house a birdcage sitting on a table came crashing down as well as a few dishes but no one considered it a terrible earthquake until a tidal wave hit the sea side a few minutes later. I think Japan (being an island country) fears tidal waves more than the earthquakes.

Well, Tetsu and I live in the center of Japan so no oceans around us. Of course a tree from the forest could come crashing down so we always hurry downstairs and away from the windows. Not a pleasant way to start the day but it did shock us awake very quickly!