Plum Festival

        During the first few weeks of the plum festival I visited and there was a huge to-do in the Kairakuen (the famous gardens in my city). There was even a performing monkey. You know it's a big deal if there is a performing monkey...

Here is a map of the gardens. I love pictures, because I know what they are trying to tell me. I am still not great at reading signs in Japanese (unless its in katakana).

Below is a food I really wish I tried. I told myself that I would get one on my way out, but the shopkeeper left before I passed back by him. I think it's sea-meat.

Because it was a festival weekend, there were a lot of people coming to admire the blossoms. There were also a lot of people sitting on benches and admiring the flowers. They all looked just as awed and amazed as I felt. 

After I walked through the entire park and admired it alone, this kind old Japanese man (who spoke no English) offered to give me a tour of the park. It was a lot of fun and gestures. When you want to communicate, you can (without a dictionary) even with a language gap. It was a wonderful good time for both of us. 

What's funny, is that I think those moments are my favorite: the unplanned, accidental collisions with unplanned moments in time. 

I also think there was a wedding in the park that day, because a woman in a kimono (pictured below) and man in black, traditional garb were walking together through the trees. What a beautiful backdrop. 

Within the park there was also a natural spring (I think it is like the springs in Florida, renowned for "healing power".)

As I left the park, I talked with some ladies in Japanese and one of them convinced me to buy this food because, as she said, it is good for my colon. But between the taste and texture there was no way it would get to my colon. Instead I licked the mustard off of them and  used them as hand-warmers on my walk home. It was a cold day and I spent unplanned hours in the park. 

The picture below does no justice to the scene, but I wanted to share a glimpse of the beauty I can see from the park. The park is on the top of a hill so that the whole valley and city are visible from the top. 

The perfect place for a castle or palace. 

Truly beautiful. 

Be Still 静まって

The peace and wonder of Japan in the gardens is astounding. So much of my city is comprised of cultivated (and impeccably cared for) gardens in yards and parks. 

       Even getting lost wandering through neighborhoods was filled with wonderment because it was all so new and beautiful to me. I can’t decide whether I am in wonder because it is foreign, or whether I am in wonder because it is frankly wonderful.

       For example, walking beside the river here in Mito there are so many spots that have been intentionally selected or cultivated to be beautiful with a certain “quietness.” They are places that make me want to be still and know that God is creator. And although the people of Japan do not know whom they should worship, I think they (as a cultural whole) recognize that there is something beautiful and worth worshiping in those quite places (thus all the shrines at the best quiet places).

       The layout of my city here in Japan forces me to pause and say, “Wow, God. 

すごい! The wonderful works of your hands,” in a way that no North American city ever has. 

 

        Part of the peace of these places is the harmony of water, plant, and stone. The water maintains a peaceful movement, the stones are cool and still, the plants are vivacious and (will be) green.
       The layout of garden spaces is also completely unlike western styles. There is no attempt to make nature uniform. instead, the oddities and uniqueness are highlighted and admired. When walking through the plum blossom orchard the flowers were beautiful but they were not the most beautiful. The tree trunks were because of their peculiarity - a peculiarity which the garden layout made notable.
        There is garden "decoration" in Japan made from bamboo called shishio-doshi (or deer frighten-er) which periodically tips over and makes a hollow sound. It is meant to keep wildlife out of gardens but I love the sound of it. The image to the left is not one. (here is an video of one on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvwHph4bFN0)

Life would be as Shaky as... as... 地震

     This will be a short post - just a blip under the radar. 

     This week while I was standing and cleaning my apartment suddenly felt like a car ran into the building. I slightly lost my balance and a box fell off my counter. What??? Since a car did not run into the building - I checked - I searched for seismic activity in Japan. Yep, a little, baby earthquake like the ones we felt in California.  They are on the same fault line, but it still surprised me.

      Just thought I'd share. And, yes, I am still safe and ok. 

Here is a link to Japan's recent seismic activity.

http://earthquaketrack.com/jp-14-mito/recent

I'm Allergic to Japan - Jet Lag

       So, when I was preparing for Japan (having never been this far overseas before) I expected to experience my first real case of jet lag, and I did. However, if did not take the form that I assumed it would. Surprisingly I did not suffer from sleeplessness at all (a fact which I think is a result of 29 hours of not sleeping, a melatonin pill, and God's mercy). 

       There are other common symptoms of jet lag. According to Google search, the list of common ailments includes: anxiety, confusion, dehydration, headache, irritability,nausea, diarrhea, difficulty concentrating, sweating, coordination problems,dizziness, and even memory loss. 

The route my body chose was to become temporarily allergic to Japan.

     I have never been allergic to anything before, but tears were running down my eyes and out my nose, my eyes were red and swollen, my lymph nodes were the size of grapes, and my sinuses were full... but otherwise I felt fine.  

       So quick as I could, I headed down to the nearest convenient store for this lovely mask (which are all the rage in Japan - you can even get them with cute decorative patterns). Later, after work I had to find allergy medicine in Japanese...

 

In a couple days, I was fine again. 

Reallly, body? 

Apparently I just wanted to wear a mask... Thank you jet lag.

My Walkabout

On my first Sunday in Mito I went and a long walk around the Sakura (cherry blossom) river and Samba lake as a long-cut to getting to church. It was a beautiful day and so the hour-long walk was a beautiful time to think and pray after a crazy first week of work. (I would add sipping coffee to that list of enjoyments but no one seems to walk and drink here in Japan and so I drank my coffee before I left. 

Here are some pictures from that walk. 

The flowers are plum blossoms.

However, going to church has not been my only excuse to get out and see the city. On at least two occasions I have gotten horrendously lost on my way to the grocery store. The kind of lost where I started in downtown and at one point had to follow signs saying "Mito city this way" (in Japanese, of course) -.- But that trip took me through the outskirts of the city where every yard seemed immaculately  and beautifully trimmed. It was snowing too, so thickly that I could not tell the difference between the falling snow and the thick white plum blossoms on the trees. The camera did not do it justice so I won't belittle that particular scene with photos. 

I also did some extensive walking after church through the gardens and parks of the city (not the famous one... the many other parks. I somehow have not made it to the famous one yet).

The Japanese Style

       Here are several photos of houses and structures and trees which strike me as being very Japanese in style. Most of  them I have seen during my walks around town (to church or the store or to work) but some have been elsewhere (Tsukuba city for example).

      It all seems beautiful to me, and I wonder whether that is because it is so foreign to me or if it is because I really like Japanese infrastructure.

The Big Gulp 飲み物

     I have already done a post about eating, so it is only fair to do one on drinking, too.

     On ever street corner, and in front of most stores there is a vending machine which dispenses both hot and cold drinks,even if the store sells drinks. Usually these contain tea, water, coffee, juice, etc... but there are some variation from place to place. The price ranges from 100-150 yen. 

     This post will mostly be pictures unless the drink was particularly surprising or unexpected because it is difficult to describe slight variations in taste. 

In any case, here are some pictures of things that I have been drinking. 

The powdered drinks or teas.

I like Japanese green tea better than American green tea.

In general, the coffee here is more bitter than what I've had in America.

The Juices:

The OJ tall carton tastes like oranges that are just over-ripened and has no pulp at all (texture like apple juice) which to me is really weird and surprising.

The "healthy" one tastes like v8, but better somehow...

Most of these are quart sized containers which the convenience stores sell with giant long straws. 

Do you drink juice a quart at a time?

   

The Canned Coffee.

I don't even know, do they sell canned coffee in America? Not bottles, but cans?
 I think rainbow means cream and sugar - at least that's what it tastes like.
The carton of coffee tastes like sweetened condensed milk in coffee.
The percentage # in the corner indicates what ratio of cream to coffee.

Starbucks coffee tastes the same in Japan.

This is milk. I had to ask someone how to tell the different percentages of milk apart. 

This is whole milk (see the 3.6 milk-fat).

And everything else...

Convenience stores コンビニ are great.