culture shock

I just read this article.

Am definitely feeling adrift today.

In the morning I had a long chat with Krista via Skype, which was great, even though it reminds me that I am here and not there, home. Near the end of the conversation Mirah woke up from her nap (it was nice that Krista got to see her), had some lunch, and we were on our way out. It was a beautiful day today, sunny and cool. We headed to a park in Ebina. Decided I didn't want to take the train anywhere today because we had been bustling for the past three days.

The park was good in that Mirah needs an outlet for her energy that's bigger than a hotel room. She's been especially into climbing lately. So we arrived at the park and there's another mom there with her two kids--a boy about 3 years old and a girl in a stroller (I later found out the girl was 10 months old). They were on the other side of the park in the sandbox, but the boy's trike thing was near the equipment where Mirah and I landed. Of course the trike caught Mirah's eye and she went running over to it. I had to divert her because I don't know the rules about sharing trikes in Japan. She was a bit tweaked about that, but got over it. Then she was running happily around by the base of the slides and tripped. Now she has her first skinned knee. It's pretty minor, but definitely a baby-sized skinned knee.

Boy One came over and started playing on the slides. Another mom came later with Boy Two. Mirah seemed happy to be playing with (aka watching and interacting from a slight distance) the boys and it was apparent that she enjoyed following them around. The whole time, though, I was just nervous. Mirah already had her skinned knee and then she was playing on this equipment that wasn't age appropriate. I was having visions of danger, even though I was totally on top of Mirah the entire time.

Which goes to say that I think hyper-vigilance and OCD type behavior might be a culture shock thing.

After the park, we stopped at the grocery store. The entire time there I just felt uncomfortable and out of place. And annoyed that we live in a hotel and don't have a kitchen to cook real food. Argh.

Enough complaints for today. Wait, one more. Mirah has a runny nose and sneezed a few times today. Argh again.

The thing is, I really dig Japan. Think I'm just experiencing some culture shock.

outing with friends

Mirah and I had our first trip on the train today. We took the Odakyu line to Hon-Atsugi with the assistance of our new friends Rika and her son Haruki. First we met for lunch at Denny's. It happened to be very kid-friendly, which was a relief. Haruki is a sweet little boy, but he likes to be on the move. Rika chases after him quite a bit.

We had a nice lunch. I had chicken, greens, miso soup and rice from the set menu. After Denny's we went on the train. I was oddly nervous and kept laughing excitedly. Rika showed how to use the train pass (it's simply scanned at the entrance) and we went to the platform on the elevator. Hon-Atsugi is only two stops away from Ebina and the train was an express so it skipped "fake" Atsugi. I say "fake" because Rika explained that Hon means "real".

From the Hon-Atsugi station, we walked a short distance to the children's play space. It was on the 5th floor of a building. Luckily Rika had asked in advance if it was okay that we come to the play space. Of course there was the initial paper work to be filled out. Mirah's name, my name, address, phone number, etc. Of course I didn't have the address of the hotel or a phone number (I think soon I will be getting a cell phone with a Japanese phone number). The aproned authorities still let me in and Rika explained my situation.

The play space was awesome! It was a mostly open room with different play areas--kitchen, tables, climbing things, slides, books, etc. They had this great musical puzzle floor mat that had a note associated with each puzzle piece. Stepping on a piece made the note sound. And the notes were labelled with their tones, do-re-mi, in hiragana of course. Mirah enjoyed the mat and she was really into the two slides.

There were quite a few moms and kids / babies there. Everyone was quite welcoming. It turns out that this play space was free and there's one in Ebina as well, but apparently there's an admission fee.

After the play space, Rika was kind enough to escort us back to Ebina. We stopped for coffee and visited a grocery store for a few items. This grocery store was new to me and no doubt a better value than shopping at the food area in the department store!

We had a wonderful day and I hope that I expressed enough appreciation to Rika for being so friendly to us. Good times!

This post goes out to Eric

who has named the blog. With time on my hands (while baby is sleeping), something must be done.

Cheers to all who cross this path.

Some light reading.

let's hear it for nice people

I met a lovely Japanese mama today. The kids were playing at the Vinawalk (mall) courtyard. Her son is going to be 2 in July so he and Mirah are close in age. We chatted the best we could and she gave me her email address. Actually, it's amazing how much you can communicate knowing very little of each others' language.

I sent her a note, so I hope we can continue the conversation. She lives in a small town near Atsugi which is close to Ebina. I'm grateful for the connection. And the bravery of someone willing to talk to an imposing gaijin mama.

sushi conveyor belt restaurant

On Tuesday Brian and Khing-san came back to the hotel at lunch time. We got in the car and drove to a nearby sushi restaurant, roughly between our Ebina hotel and the Shake Proto Labs site. Khing-san showed us the ropes. We entered and received a number indicating which table was ours. It's basically a self-service deal. We helped ourselves to tea cups which were above the conveyor belt next to our table. Powdered green tea was in a container on the table (Khing said he uses about three 'scoops'--the scooping tool was a little metal stick with a thin flattened end). Put in the tea to taste, and fill the cup with boiling water which comes from a tap also at the table. Then take your favorite sushi from the conveyor belt as it passes by you.

Brian is a bit more adventurous than I in the seafood eating department. He had several pieces, as did Khing. I managed to try a few different things with ingredients like salmon, egg, tofu and cucumber. Another option at the restaurant is to special order something. There's a touch screen near your table that shows all the food choices including drinks and desserts. When the special orders come around, the plates are placed atop bowls so they can be differentiated from the regular plates.

When you are finished, or as the plates are emptied, you send them down a chute next to your table. For every five plates that go in, you can play a little game that shows up on the order screen. If you win, a little vending machine type toy in a plastic sphere comes down. Mirah was pretty tickled by this. Luckily that wasn't the only thing entertaining Mirah. As we dined, Khing showed us the sports of chopstick sword fighting and drumming.