A century old and still singing

There is a lady at church who I see almost every Sunday. She always greets me with "Ohayou gozaimasu!" (Good morning!) And when she sits behind me, I can hear her singing the hymns.

These things may sound pretty average, but this lady is not. She is 100 years old!

We had a birthday party for her after church a few days ago, with a giant circular vanilla and chocolate cake. After eating, she gave a speech (that I didn't understand a word of), and then she sang a song for everyone.

I was quite impressed.

My one-century-old friend and me. I hope I look as good as she does if/when I'm 100!

In general, the elderly folks I encounter in Kuji are pretty remarkable. It's not uncommon to see someone you'd expect to be in a wheelchair riding a bicycle along the side of the street instead!

As I'm driving around the mountains, I often see severely hunched over -- or as Yamadate says, "permanently bowing" :) -- women hiking up the steep roads. They usually are carrying a heavy-looking sack of produce or something else and don't even seem to be phased by it. It's just life as usual, I suppose.

It doesn't suprise me that Japan has one of the highest life expectancy rates in the world. In fact, the world's oldest man is Tomoji Tanabe of Tokyo. He is 113 years old. (FYI: Until November 26th when she passed away, Edna Parker of Shelbyville, Ind., a Franklin College graduate (!) was the oldest person in the world, at 115 years old.)

According to this article, the longetivity of Japanese people is due to the minerals and the large amount of seafood that they eat, and the elderly having a sense of purpose in life. Makes sense to me.

It's hard to imagine living to be 100 years old! I think it would certainly be amazing to see all of the different changes that occur within a century. Perhaps I'll live that long and find out!

After all, I'm eating tons of seafood, taking vitamins every day, and I have a sense of purpose. :)

"It's Christmas time in the city..."

I'm not the only one in Kuji ready for Christmas. Apparently, a lot of people are!

Just as I've been astounded by the amount of English signs I've seen in Kuji, I've also been pleasantly surprised by the quantity of Christmas decorations that have popped up in recent days.

They make me happy. :)

Across the street from my decor-filled apartment is a bookstore that also has many decorations inside, in addition to a cute window display of Christmas teddy bears. These two pictures are both from the bookstore...

He sure is a jolly old St. Nick!

Just like in America, the stores here are playing Christmas music and selling holiday merchandise. There are even "Merry Christmas" signs inside...
I love how there's a big Japanese sign right behind the Merry Christmas one.

I really like the Christmas banners and strands of lights on the light posts. The city sidewalks are truly dressed in holiday style, like in the lyrics to the song "Silver Bells."

This tree is down the street from my apartment and is absolutely gorgeous...

I have been surprised by these displays of Christmas spirit! After all, Japan is only a one-percent Christian country. I had thought that if people in Kuji celebrated Christmas at all, it probably wouldn't be a big deal.

Yesterday at Kokuji Elementary School, I was asked to talk about Christmas customs in America. I asked the students what their families will do on Christmas, and they said they'll eat cake and get presents. I also asked if they knew why we celebrate Christmas. In every class, at least one of the students knew about the birthday of Jesus Christ. Again, I was pleasantly surprised!

I'm glad that I can walk the sidewalks in Kuji and see holiday decorations, and I'm happy that "in the air there's a feeling of Christmas." :)

The countdown has begun!

Welcome to the holiday season, folks. :)

With Christmas less than a month away, I'm fired up and feeling festive! I'm extra excited since I'm going home, and then to Florida, to be with my family!!

Since I celebrated Thanksgiving with the other ALT's a couple of weeks ago, it's already felt like the holiday season to me. The day of the first snowfall in Kuji, I went to the dollar store...um, I mean 100 yen store...and bought some fun holiday/winter decor and adorned my apartment.

Since then, I've had even more Christmas decorations sent to me. (Thank you so much!) Although I don't really have halls to deck -- and no boughs of holly, either -- my living room is decked out! There's a whole lot of Christmas cheer in here, and I might have to keep all the decorations up until at least March since I'm lovin' the jolly vibes. :)

Check it out:

Here's another view...

I'm pretty proud of those paper snowflakes I made. (Decorations even cheaper than the ones at the 100 yen store! Yes!) And there's snowflake garland (I guess that's what you'd call it) around my living room door, which has snowmen on it....

This is looking into the living room from my bedroom...

And even the TV has some holiday spirit...

I'm looking forward to having a Christmas party in my festive apartment for my dance team, two weeks from this very moment. It will probably be crowded since this isn't exactly a big place, but that's ok, we'll just be real close friends, haha. Since I did some serious cleaning and decorating this weekend, I could have it tomorrow! I'm ready.

And I'm also ready to celebrate Christmas back home again in Indiana.
It's only 25 days away. Almost 24. :)

What does a turkey in space say?

Hello, America! Looking so beautiful from space. *Internet photo*

I've had outer space on my mind. That's not to say that my mind has been in outer space!

It started a few weeks ago when my friend Kiley mentioned a wonderful sermon about the universe. (And I'm not talking about the grocery store this time!) Click here for the first part. If you could find about 45 minutes to watch this, I highly recommend it.

A couple of days ago, my friend Sara sent me this link that shows pictures from space. Like the sermon, the photographs put me in awe of God. He is truly awesome, and so is His creation!

I give God thanks and praise for many things. On this Thanksgiving Day, I thank Him for designing this amazing universe that we are just a teeny tiny part of. I give thanks for the fact that the Creator of the Universe is involved in my life! It blows me away thinking about it.

I've always been fascinated by outer space. When I was in second grade, I claimed that I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up. (Too bad I get so motion sick! I guess my dreams need to be more down to Earth!)


Yesterday, I found the above picture in an Internet article about Thanksgiving in space. The caption read: "The Thanksgiving feast shuttle astronauts will eat in space Clockwise from upper left: green beans and mushrooms, candied yams, cranapple dessert, cornbread stuffing and smoked turkey."

Feast is not the word that comes to mind when I look at this picture. But at least the meal consists of traditional Thanksgiving foods! Here is a picture of what I had today for "Thanksgiving dinner"...

This is the first Thanksgiving that I've eaten rice, fish and miso soup! But I celebrated the holiday in other ways. I taught the students at Mugyo Jr. High about Thanksgiving traditions, and we decorated sugar cookies with fall sprinkles. (Thanks again, Mom!) It hasn't been a typical Thanksgiving and I miss being with my family, but it's been a good day.

Sooooo....what does a turkey in space say, you've been wondering....

"Hubble, hubble, hubble!" :)

"Grease is the word"...and the dance!

Sunday, Nov. 23, 11:30 a.m. -- All four of the ALT "dancers" (I use that term loosely. We are far from professional!) are gearing up for the performance at Amber Hall. We've spent the last 10 days practicing our moves to songs from the musical "Grease." Besides our dance, the charity event will include a variety of acts from people of all ages in the community. The show begins in exactly one hour. Eeps! So we're about to do a final dress rehearsal. **Click here to see it! **

12:16 p.m. -- We're now at Amber Hall, in a dressing room that we're sharing with an elderly lady in a kimono. Individually, we're running through our dance moves. We're making sure our outfits and make-up are just right. We're excited, but also anxious. I'm thinking, "Let's get this party started!"

12:56 p.m. -- We'll go on stage any second. I'm so pumped! The act before us was SO adorable! There must have been at least 20 little kids dancing to upbeat Japanese music. Now it's our turn. A disco ball is coming down from the ceiling. That's awesome! I didn't know they were doing that!

Lights. Camera. Action! ** Click here to join the audience, and let the show begin.**

1:01 p.m. -- Whew, that was the fastest four and a half minutes ever! What a blast! It reminded me of my days on the movement team at church. There were four of us then, too.

Overall, I think the dress rehearsal went better than the actual performance, but at least we made our mistakes with smiles on our faces. :) While on stage, I had one of those, "this is surreal" moments. Here I am in Japan, prancing around a stage in leggings in front of 1,000 people. What a life I lead!

The dancers have Kenji to thank for letting us turn the upstairs of his office building into a dance studio. I think he enjoys this picture. :) And thanks to Kenji for the videos, too!

A (nother) blog post regarding food

What can I say? Food ("tabemono" in Japanese) is one of my passions! And I'm currently passionate about persimmons. :)

When I was reading the Indy Star on-line, I came across this article about persimmons. Although this is the peak month for persimmons in Indiana, I've been eating this yummy fruit for the last three months in Japan.

I was first introduced to the "kaki" (the Japanese name for persimmon) when one of the teachers at Yamane Jr. High School gave me one, back in August. I thought it was a tomato.

Before you think I'm crazy, check out this picture of a kaki:


Does it not look like a tomato!? I have several of these in my fridge right now that I could take pictures of. This picture is from the internet, though.

Since I'm not a huge fan of tomatoes, I decided to give my tomato to Tomoki. Tomoki laughed at me (what's new?) and said, "That's not a tomato! It's a...ummm...errr...I don't know in English. But it's a kaki in Japanese." So he looked it up in his fancy little electronic translator, and we learned that this tomato-wanna-be is actually a persimmon.

I've been enjoying the juicy, sweet fruit -- which thankfully tastes nothing like a tomato -- ever since. :)

I always just slice it up and eat. But maybe I'll try making the apple and persimmon salad recipe that's at the end of the Indy Star article.

If you're a persimmon-eater like me, I hope you can enjoy some delicious persimmon pudding (or even some apple and persimmon salad) this Thanksgiving!

"Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow..."

I've already begun listening to Christmas music.

It just feels like the right thing to do.

There's a nice white dusting over everything since it has sprinkled snow for two days in a row! (I had winter tires put on my car on Tuesday, just in time.) The first snowfall of the season is really great because it makes the trees look beautiful, but doesn't stick to the road. :)

Yesterday, I noticed a pine tree near my apartment that has blue lights strung on it. And there's a shop down the street with a Christmas display in the window! With snow on the ground and holiday decorations going up around me, it truly is "beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!"

So after I cranked up the heat in my car this morning, I decided it was time to crank up the Christmas music. I put in the tape "Christmas Party Mix," ready for my Christmas party on wheels.

And my, was it entertaining! Do you remember the song "Macarena"? The dance was all the rage when I was in fifth grade, so it's been a while.

Anyway...

Wouldn't you know that every single song on the Christmas tape was set to the beat of "Macarena" -- including the song "Silent Night," which is just wrong. And then "Macarena" would play after each funky Christmas song. It was almost too much. Even for me! But it made me laugh, and it also made me eager to listen to the true tunes!

I usually wait until after Thanksgiving to start listening to Christmas music. But since I celebrated Thanksgiving with the other ALT's last Saturday, it feels like the holiday season has officially begun. I'm totally okay with starting "the most wonderful time of the year" a week early.

In fact, I may even decorate my apartment for Christmas tonight. "Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la la la...

...Hey Macarena!!" ;)