Salvation from those embarrassing moments...

Some things are so funny!  One thing I never considered before moving here was the embarrassment of those "revealing" sounds when using a public restroom.  Basically, everyone goes there for the same purpose, so it seems obvious there would be tinkling sounds, etc.  Well, to preserve one's image (and the water supply so people won't flush to mask the sound) there is a very handy invention.  A wall mounted sensor that plays a "flushing" track to cover up any potentially revealing noise that is a natural part of using the bathroom. 

I'm sure the portable version for the image-conscious will be available soon...if it isn't already!  Ecological and convenient....

 

Wave your hand over the hand mark, and it starts.  Also convenient instructions in braille.  The sound will automatically shut off after 25 seconds.  If one's "business" isn't quite finished, just wave your hand again, and the masking noise starts right back up! The maker's suggested retail price starts at about 18,000 yen, but found it at half price on their site on sale (delete the last two digits for approximate US dollar price)(and NO, I didn't buy one).

(Apologize for the blurry pic...the camera click was actually more embarrassing...what would people think!  Will retake soon and leave the door open so people can realize I'm not doing something really weird--just kind of weird!)

Getting Out of My Funk!

Howdy.  Been awhile.  Still trying to think of a catchy phrase for a title, and also of what to post!  What a busy bit it has been.  As I still can't get my mind into the work I need to do tonight, I thought I'd take a breather and post a bit.  So, here are some random bits from the last 10 days or so!

Bit one:  Today, the great-grandmother of one of my students' families passed away.  She was in her 90's, so it wasn't such an unexpected event, but there is much sorrow of course.  My students (2nd, 4th and 6th graders) are handling it with grace, as well dealing with the impact on their daily lives.  The youngest was in tears today as the funeral of her much-loved "hi-baachan" is also on the day of her much-anticipated school excursion.  We sat together and held hands, and she shared what she would miss about her great-grandmother, as well as what she would miss about her event; in both, it was the care and shared experience with a special person.  Among people close to me, this is the third death in ten days.  Death is a part of life, though a hard part.  It's perhaps easier to let go at the end of a long life, but regardless of the length, finding memories to give voice to and lighten grief also affirms life.

Bit two:  On the other side of the spectrum, a friend had a baby today....one week "late," her daughter finally made her grand appearance～heartfelt congratulations!

Bit three: On the much lighter side, and in the category of "when I think about it much, I just have to find it weird," ferrets as pets.  Another baseball-mom shared about life with her pet ferret, and the image of her describing it long, thin body after a bath still has me chuckling (my Maltese looks like a giant rat, adorable, but still ratty so I'm not pointing fingers!). My son is also angling for a new pet, a very tiny mouse-like thing (yes, it probably is a mouse, but having had an invasion of the real thing and occasional alarming sounds almost like scurrying mouse feet, I can't willingly entertain the idea of one as an actual pet!!!!) and I've actually agreed to check into it, and sound out the other (human) residents regarding this!

Son saw this on TV last Monday (another tick in the "why TV is a negative influence on children" column--eeks!  I'm sounding like a hopelessly antiquated something-or-other!).  I'm thinking too much...my dog has just stolen my seat cushion, so now I'll steal it back and steal back to work!

Love Sushi

Golden Week (a series of 4 national holidays with a couple of regular days thrown in between April 29 & May 5) is underway.  My work is on holiday, but the family restaurant is in it's second busiest season of the year.  There isn't much time for anything, so before the holiday started, we took some time to do things we enjoyed.

For son K and I, we hit the batting cages, bookstores (on-line and in-town) and enjoyed a favorite meal.  In a couple of years (months!) it might become more expensive, but kaiten-sushi is one of our top faves for a cheap, delicious, quick meal!  Just up the street is a kaiten-sushi for 100 yen plus tax per plate (with soup and K's desert, we always come in @ about 2000 yen=a little more expensive than the burger joint, but feels much healthier!)

We enjoyed our perpetual favorites of maguro (tuna), hamachi (yellowtail), anago (conger eel), negi-toro (tuna with green onions), tamago (egg) and ebi-abokado(shrimp with avocado).  Well, K doesn't like the anago or ebi so much, and I pass on the tamago, but these plates ALWAYS cross our table.  I have a strong tendency to order the same thing, so decided to try something new.  It was a seasoned pork topping (buta sankaku) that was surprisingly good and tender.  Yum! 

Lots of national holidays, and delicious inexpensive sushi:  two more of my favorite things in Japan!

Here's the partial line-up:

Maguro (tuna) is a little more expensive, so one piece of sushi per plate.  The yellow plates have wasabi on the sushi, and white ones don't.  Of course, there are little packets of wasabi so you can add it if necessary.

The upper plate is anago (conger eel).  Another type of popular eel is unagi, which is usually dipped in a slightly sweet/soy sauce.  I like the lighter flavor of anago for nigiri-sushi.  The lower pictures are sake (salmon) with grated daikon radish and negi (green onions/leeks) and boiled ebi (shrimp) topped with slices of avocado, thinly sliced onions and mayo.

We tried this pork sushi for the first time today-it just melts in your mouth!  I was a little leery, but will definitely have this again.

K's stack with hamachi (yellowtail) on top....hungry boy!

While I enjoyed a final cup of green tea, he finished off his meal with kaki-gori (shaved ice).

Finally, ponderings from the parking lot after having stuffed myself.  I find the prevalence of English in Japan convenient and amusing at times.  But sometimes wonder why a sign restricting entrance would be posted in another language rather than Japanese.

Now, I'm off to prepare for another day at our restaurant=I'll tell you more about that later!

Update

Ms. H, son's homeroom teacher came for the home visit yesterday.  I think we were both nervous, and one of her first questions was, "Well, are you OK with Japanese?"  I reassured her that having been here for awhile, our chat would be no problem.  Then we moved on to how son is adjusting, what his interests, etc. are, and parents' view of how everything is going.  Lovely chat, friendly, but firm-sounding teacher so quite pleased!  My goal is to keep son enthused and working hard & well this year, and keep good communication lines open with his teacher/s.  Fingers also crossed that this round of junior high will continue positively!

家庭訪問: Teachers' Home Visits

The start of a new school year also heralds a visit from one's child's kindergarten, elementary or junior high teacher.  Today is our scheduled day for a visit from son's teacher.  When I first learned of this 11 years ago, I was quite shocked.  In my country, parents would visit schools, not the other way around!  It seemed intrusive and unnecessary.  Also, it seemed a rather stress-inducing event as I listened to other mom's talk about their preparations!  As we live outside of the kids' school zone, we had visits at Grandmother's house for the first few years.  She always made a major effort to have everything "just so" (she also chided me a bit when I showed up for visits, or went to school visit days NOT wearing a suit or the equivalent...but that's another tale). More recently, I've gone to the elementary school instead of the teacher coming to my home.  For junior high though, we are in the school zone....and the teachers have come here.

So, what happens at these visits?  Well, it is often the first time to talk one-on-one with one's child's main teacher for the year.  They get a peek at what type of home environment the child is in (and most don't take a look at the kids rooms anymore-never in our case--just are in the "guest room"), and inquire about the child's daily habits, talk about how the child is settling into class and so on.  It's actually rather nice now, though a few years ago I was terrified about having a formal conversation in Japanese.  Obviously, I'm not a native speaker, but it has always gone fairly smoothly anyway.

Now, I'm off to tidy up my public room (my classroom) and get ready to meet Ms. H this afternoon.  Later!

Entrance Ceremony: 入学式

入学出きた！Son is now in junior high school! The ceremony was fairly quick, even with calling all 270+ students' names, and the requisite speeches, standing, sitting and other greetings. His homeroom teacher is Ms. H, and son's impression is nice, but very firm.  That's a good thing.  The textbooks look interesting, think I might try reading them too--still need to work on my Japanese!  (Photos soon, no time yet!)  My other lasting impression (well, reinforced impression) is how junior high in some ways is almost military-esque.  The rules for uniforms are extremely strict, and the style for roll call, the marching order, and other things.  Son is fairly pleased with his class, and I am too.  Sorry there aren't better pictures though...

The girls' wear a "sailor" uniform, and the boys, a high-necked, military style one.  I'm not sure what the proper name for it is...

The guys with their school book bags, filled with all the textbooks they have to take home and write their names on, outside they gym.  Students in the upper grade were at the school as well for bukatsu (club) practice.

New Beginnings

April is the month for cherry blossoms, and the "beginning" of the year in Japan.  The new academic year, fiscal year for many companies & businesses, as well as for the government started this month.  So, March was filled with graduations, company transfers and all that.  This month, everyone is settling into their new place. 

My family is also settling into a new pattern.  Our youngest has his junior high entrance ceremony in a couple of hours; oldest has her high school ceremony on the 18th.  (Sunday events are fairly common here...ceremonies, sports events for school, etc.)  My lovely, but difficult daughter will be attending high school in a "tsushin" course, for at least this year.  That means she won't be going everyday, but completing most of her work at home through a correspondence-style course.  It is not what I wanted, but after the trauma and rebelliousness, etc. during junior high, I'm just thankful that she is motivated to be doing this. 

Today, I'm sending my youngest off to junior high, with much trepidation, as well as hope.  But, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and more....