"Touching the Void"

Whenever I find a movie or documentary about climbing, my hand automatically reaches out for it and I have to watch it. So tonight, I watched a movie called "Touching the Void."

It was about two men climbing this mountain in Peru (I think it was) and how they had an accident that forced them to make life and death decisions. It was an inspiring story.

I don't know why, but I'm always drawn to these mountaineering topics. I've seen quite a few of these types of movies, all of which seem to tell near-death stories. I think I've been drawn to them ever since I saw Mt. Everest when I went to Nepal before.

For 2 weeks, every day we carried bricks and laid them for the clinic we helped build, we had full view of Mt. Everest and it was amazing. There's something majestic and moving when you see such grand nature.

Some day, I wish I can climb to the base camp of Mt. Everest. I wonder if that dream will ever come true =).

No Refills

I went to Subway the other day. It was the first time in Japan where they just gave me the cup and I could fill the cup with what I wanted. I thought to myself "oh, what a surprise, never been to a fast-food restaurant where the drinks are self-serve with free refills!"

But...I was wrong. They asked me what drink I wanted...I don't know why, since all they do is give me an empty cup so I can fill it myself.

Then, they added "Please remember that you can fill the cup only ONCE...no refills." And they had stickers saying "NO REFILLS" on all the drink machines.

So much for the free refills...I don't understand why they do it like this. Strange.

Sushi Trains

Sushi is very popular over here. They have what are called "kaiten zushi" restaurants over here...the ultimate fast-food sushi restaurant basically. What happens is, a never-ending round of different sushi comes around on small plates on a conveyor belt that goes around and around the whole restaurant. Typcially, each plate is priced 105 Yen, so you can keep track of your bill.

I'm vegetarian (sort of), so you probably wonder why I'd go to a sushi bar, when most of it is raw fish, right? Well, when I go to a sushi bar, my pickings always consists of: natto, egg, corn, shrimp-avocado (I pull the shrimp out!), and whatever else is edible, which doesn't consist of something that used to be alive. You probably think what the point of going to a kaiten zushi is if I'm not going to eat actual sushi, right?

Well, you see, I think kaiten zushi is entertainment in a way. Where in the States can you find a place where sushi just keeps coming and coming and you have to keep your eye out for whatever is heading your way, while you have your mouth full, and also remember to grab the next plate as it passes by you? It's really funny. It feels like a race in a way...at least I only have to keep my eyes out for about 4 different types of sushi, but for those of you who can eat real sushi, then it's a busy experience.

I went to a kaiten-zushi restaurant recently where for every 5 plates of sushi you send down the shoot, the electronic order screen starts beeping and a slot machine type of game automatically starts...if you win a little toy comes rolling down! It's entertainment, right?

Such a cool group of people!!

So, like I said, the conference is over. These, and a few others are the core members of the organizing committee that did the nitty gritty work of putting the details together. There were art therapists (hurray!), music therapists, clinical psychologists, dance therapists, drama therapists, and one guy that had superb organizational skills that saved us all from falling apart and quitting midway, since we had some internal problems.

It was hard work, but these people made it all worth it. It's so awesome, when complete strangers can come together, set their heart on accomplishing something, and a year later something great comes out of it. I've definitely gained more friends for life through this experience.

You know, I was reflecting on how this experience meant a lot to me and realized that throughout most of my adult life, people I've met through volunteer experiences have greatly influenced the decisions I've made in my life.

For instance, I went to Ebeye for a year of volunteer work...met the Loeaks, and a few years later they decided to move to the States, so I moved down from Sacramento to Loma Linda, where I'd have a wider support network of people to help them adjust to a new life.

Then, they decided to move to Washington, so I picked Oregon over California, to get my art therapy degree, since it'd be closer to Washington and I could go visit more often. I don't have family in the States, so basically, wherever I decide to call home, is home. In the end, my family from the Marshall Islands decided to stay in CA and I still chose to go to Oregon since I had always wanted to live there at some point.

Then in Japan, I met my current boss when I volunteered at some International Education Conference, and before I knew it, I was working with her.

And now, I met a group of really cool people who all happen to live up in Tokyo...I'm thinking maybe I'll give Tokyo a shot and see where that leads after April...I've never regretted the decisions I've made in terms of where I put my heart....don't know yet though. We'll see where things lead.

I'm off to bed now. Night!

Moving the gods

One day I heard a lot of people shouting outside, so I looked through the window and saw these group of people saying "washoi washoi!" What are they doing you ask? I wondered the same thing.

I asked my friend and she explained to me that they were moving the gods from one shrine to another all through town. It was raining pretty hard this day, so they have the thing carrying the god covered with plastic, and the monks (?) are also holding umbrellas.

I wonder if they are moving ONE god from one shrine, so it can visit all the shrines throughout town, or if they are moving many different gods from one shrine to another, like changing roommates or something.

It's amazing. You live in a modern world in Japan one moment, then out of nowhere, centries old traditions just pop right into your life like it's absolutely normal. The past and present coexist peacefully. It's pretty cool.

Policeman on a motorbike

In Japan, they seem to have many ranks of police. This guy on his motor-bicyle, I think he's probably the lowest, which is the guy at the ko-ban. They carry guns, but I've never heard of police in Japan actually using their guns, which is a good thing. I think these guys are considered somewhat at the same level of of postal delivery person...they seem to just sit around all day and run paperwork back and forth between who knows where.

Police in Japan are non-threatening, and they don't seem to carry much authority. Most of them are very helpful if you ask them for directions. I've only seen this type of police officer so far.

Visit to my grandma's back in August

My grandma! She usually lives with my aunt, but when I went to visit her, she was at the day-care center so I went to surprise her there. She had a stroke several years ago, so she can't move the right-side of her body now. She was so happy to see me she immediately started to cry. She immediately recalled my name and that almost made me cry. I love you grandma!!

View from my grandma and Aunt's apartment. The elementary school that my dad used to go to is straight ahead. I once went there for 2 months during summer vacation when I was visiting my relatives in Japan...had a TERRIBLE time there.

Another narrow path that my grandma used to always walk through to reach her office. My grandma has lived her whole life in this city of Sasebo.

The road that my grandma always walked on when she was able to go grocery shopping.

The liquor shop my grandpa and grandma used to own. There's a sad story behind it and why it didn't stay in the family, so I won't mention it here.

I'm not sure, it might be bad luck to take pictures of "obutudan," but I thought it looked really cool, so I snuck a picture. This is a little alter to pay tribute to my grandpa. My aunt places tea and rice in front of it ever morning. I'm not buddhist so I don't necessarily believe that my grandpa's spirit rests here, but I do feel "something" when I'm standing in front of it.

Just Three Stems!

I took this picture in the grocery store several weeks ago because it just struck me so funny that they would actually sell just THREE stems of asparagus. They were really tiny too.

How do you cook just three stems of asparagus?

Funny, funny.

The Conference is over at last!!

Hey guys, the International Creative Arts Therapy Conference that I've been working SOOO hard on for the past few months is finally over and it was a great success. Yesterday was the final day. The presenters from overseas commented on what a great exeperience it has been for them, how it's meant so much to them, and how well it was organized, so I was very happy. The general participants were asking if this will be held again next year, that they really enjoyed the conference, and that it meant a lot to them, so all the effort our team put into this for months and months and months, paid off.

NOW, I can have somewhat of a normal life back =). I'll actually be able to SLEEP! Hurray!

Today, I was so exhausted I didn't wake up when the train reached it's last stop, and if I hadn't woken up in the nick of time, I would have gone back to where I had gotten on again. I almost dozed off while standing in the train, but I caught the pole in time so I managed not to go down head first =). Then on my next stretch, I fell asleep again and woke up in a panic, thought I reached my destination, so I exited the ticket gate and had to buy another ticket again. After getting on again, I once again didn't wake up at the final stop and woke up before the train was about to head back to where it had come from. When I finally reached my brother's place, I just instantly fell asleep on the tatami and didn't wake up for several long hours.

Well, more updates later. I'm gonna go to bed now.

Robyn