Christmas Scenes around Town December 20, 2006
Posted by Kristen in Holiday, Tokyo Adventures.add a comment
I know that everyone has been wondering what Christmas is like in Tokyo. So here are some pictures to give you an idea of what it’s like here this time of year.
Some of the leaves have fallen, but there’s still plenty of color. It feels strange to prepare for Christmas when it feels like mid-October.
There are a lot of Christmas decorations up around town, and they have been up since early November. The Japanese seem to like Christmas but have no sentimental attachment to it. Here are some of the Christmas decorations from the big shopping area in Shibuya:
Some of the decorations are pretty silly. Juliet loves these singing dwarves, as do all the children who pass by. You often see kids standing next to them as in this picture. They are inflated by some kind of air hose and their heads bob up and down to the music. I found this a very strange sight. First of all, they’re the Disney dwarves from Snow White. Secondly, they are “singing” a random collection of soft pop songs. And finally, as I realized a few days ago, the music comes from a stereo that is left unattended outside 24 hours a day. It may be bolted down, but it has not been damaged, harmed or vandalized in an way.
And here is the equally silly inflatable Santa which, like the dwarves, is at the main intersection of Hiroo a few blocks away. He also has music, though he doesn’t bob.
Many of the decorations are understated and elegant, as this Christmas tree in a nearby shop window.
Christmas is not a time for family; it is a time for going out and for parties. Here are some of the things you can buy to prepare for a party:
We plan to have a fairly traditional family Christmas at home. We will have to do most of our celebrating on Christmas Eve, however, because Christmas Day is a regular work day and Mark will have to go to work. We considered buying a real tree when they were available at National Azabu, but quickly decided it was ridiculous to pay over $300 (plus delivery and removal). So instead I bought a nice-looking artificial tree that we can fold up and put away until next year. We are decorating the tree with origami ornaments, most of which have survived Juliet’s exploration. I will write more after Christmas and tell you how it all went.
Merry Christmas to everyone!
Ranting December 13, 2006
Posted by Kristen in Food, Gripes, Language.3 comments
Can I just say how much I don’t want to have my Japanese lesson today? It’s hard and confusing and I never have any time to study. My teacher will come in and ask me some question in Japanese about something we did 2 days ago and I will have no idea what she’s talking about. Then she’ll teach me a new word and I’ll forget it immediately. Then I’ll go out into the city and try to use some word or phrase I was supposed to have learned and get it all wrong.
Yesterday I went to the bakery to buy 8 small rolls. Counting things in Japanese is complicated, because you don’t use regular numbers. There are special counters for things, and the type of counter you use depends upon the type of thing. Suddenly I realized that I’ve used the counter for 1 (hitotsu) and 2 (futatsu) many times, but I completely forgot the counter for 8. I stood silently for a few seconds, then finally gave up and held up 8 fingers. The helpful saleswoman said, “eight?”. Now I can be incompetent in 2 languages.
I ordered a pizza online last night. I felt very proud of myself because I did something different this time: instead of a plain pizza with the same toppings, I planned to order one of their special pizzas. I found the one I wanted on the menu and read the name in katakana: Domino’s veggie. I clicked on the picture and read the ingredients in katakana. I selected the pizza, then went on to complete the order. I didn’t bother to read the finished order when the confirmation screen came up because it’s and effort to read Japanese and it didn’t seem necessary. Oops. When the pizza arrived, it was a pizza Margherita, a plain pizza with additional fresh tomatoes and basil. Not what I had my heart set on. (But as I said to Isabella, it could have been worse: we could have ended up with sea urchin pizza!).
I want to order pizza from Lombardi’s on Spring Street, or from Two Boots Pizza. In English. I want Chinese from Buddha House, Indian from the place on Bleecker Street. I want to pick up a roast chicken for dinner from Gourmet Garage. I want a good bagel. I want decaffeinated coffee. I want my Netflix movies back. I want to have time to watch a movie again.
I think fatigue is beginning to set in.
How to Leave a Comment December 10, 2006
Posted by Kristen in Info.add a comment
Did you know that you can post a comment on any entry in this blog? You can even reply to someone else’s comment. Here’s how:
At the bottom of the post, you’ll see an indicator showing the number of comments on the current entry, usually “0 COMMENTS”. Click on this. It will bring up a window in which you can type your comment. Please use your real name to sign the comment so I and the other readers of the blog will know who it’s from. When you’re done, just click on “Publish comment” and it will be posted to the blog for anyone to read. And if you change your mind, you can go back and delete any comment you have posted.
If you see an indicator at the bottom of any post that says “1 COMMENTS”, or “2 COMMENTS”, etc., then you know someone has already left a comment. Click on the indicator to read them.
I automatically get an email anytime someone leaves a comment on one of my posts, so I can log on and reply (but please forgive me if I don’t manage to do so, I always seem so pressed for time! 
).
Please feel free to leave comments anytime you’d like. I like to know who’s reading all my long-winded stories, and what you think of them!
A Week of Losses December 9, 2006
Posted by Kristen in Uncategorized.add a comment
This has been an especially sad week, as we learned of the deaths of three important people in our lives. I would like to tell you a bit about each one of them.
Gary Spradling
Gary Spradling was the husband of Michelle Spencer, a cousin of Mark’s father. He was 55 years old and had suffered from ALS for 6-1/2 years. He was an artist and a poet who worked in many different media and used his art to explore the difficulties and frustrations of dealing with a progressive, fatal disease. We got to know him over the past few years during visits to their apartment in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, which was so filled with his artwork it was a museum in itself. By the time we met him, he was nearly paralyzed. He was confined to a wheelchair and communicated using the movement of one finger, and later one knee, to compose words on a speech-enabled computer. Michelle brought his works alive for us, telling us the history and meaning behind each piece. Isabella especially enjoyed these visits and formed a special friendship with Gary. She enjoyed looking at all of his artworks and asking questions.
The director of the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center has written a very nice piece in memory of Gary. You can read it here.
Keith Harper
During our ill-fated renovation project in 2000, we ran into countless problems with the contractors. Rather than allow them to overcharge us for sloppy finishing work, our architect Claudio Veliz brought in his own team of craftsmen to do all of the detail work. Keith hung all of the doors, painted the walls, installed the trim, and took care of every other little task that popped up. He was in our apartment every day for about 8 months. He watched out for us when one of the incompetent fools hired by the contractor started throwing our expensive light fixtures out the window to an accomplice below; when another was about to saw through the beams supporting our double-sized bathtub; when the tiler wanted to lay a brand new marble floor directly on top of a warped subfloor. And he was a warm, friendly and funny character. He made friends with Isabella, who called him “Keef” (she was 2). He was a good soul, and he will be missed. He died of cancer last week.
Howard Green
Mark’s grandfather died on Thursday at the age of 91. He had spent many years in a nursing home. I remember visiting him several years ago when Isabella was a baby. Even when he began to sound a bit confused, he was an absolute whiz at checkers. The foolish outsider, I agreed to a game with him–and he beat me in about 4 moves. I understand that eventually no one in the home would play with him anymore because they were tired of losing all the time! He will be buried in the graveyard of the family church in Olean, Indiana, alongside all his family: generations of Greens, Spencers, Cooks and Buchanans.
It seems especially sad to have learned of the loss of all three of these people in the space of just a few days. And we are all disappointed to be so far away, unable to attend funerals and memorial services or offer our condolences in person. We knew when we left that we would probably not see Gary or Grandpa Green again, but we didn’t know how soon they would leave us.
We are all so grateful for the opportunity to live in Japan and have this wonderful adventure and learn so many new things. But there is no way around it: moving on to new things means you must leave others behind, sometimes forever.
