Episode 7: Bowling, Baseball, and Sayonaras

As I was reviewing our recent activities, it seems the most frequent one was eating. Imagine. There were a couple date nights, a Young Life banquet, a sayonara luncheon (more to come), a sayonara party (also more to come), a ladies’ retreat, and Golden week (one of the most popular week long holidays in Japan).

Darin had the week of May 2 off for the holiday. The boys didn’t. Nathan only had Monday and Tuesday off. Caden had Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off. Very difficult to do anything! We treated Nathan to a day out on Monday including lunch on the patio at The Brazilian restaruant. Awesome eats and beautiful view of the harbor! Tuesday we had grand plans of heading to Awaji Island, but the traffic was atrocious. Not to mention, the forecast was “sand”. The toxic yellow sands from China hovered for a couple of days. Not something you want to breathe in any more than you have to. (cough. cough.) We chose the indoor activity of bowling instead.

We haven’t been bowling in ages. Not sure how things have progressed in terms of automation in the US, but I would venture to guess the shoes don’t come out of vending machines. Well, they do here.

I suppose if there are beer and cigarette vending machines it really isn’t all that inconceivable that you would obtain your bowling shoes the same way. Even the medical community uses them. That’s how my friend got her urine specimen cup when she was in the hospital. She swiped her hospital card and out came a urine cup with her name already printed on it. Wish I were kidding.

The week before Golden Week, Nathan had a huge school presentation. This is the second year for 5^th graders to do an Exhibition. This is the first year it was done on such a grand scale. By that I mean there was an opening ceremony where all the 5^th graders sang, danced and played the drums. Quite a sight. This was a student-led project all the way from the design and ordering of t-shirts to the meal following the event.

In February the students selected various topics dealing with social responsibility…environmental issues, child rights, etc. For the next three months they researched, prepared visuals (both paper and power point), wrote poems, papers, and much more. The night of the Exhibition each group presented to the parents. Three groups presented simultaneously in three different rooms. The parents were able to select which presentation to attend.

It was quite a learning experience for Nathan. Not just because of his topic, but because he was chosen the leader of his group and learned first hand how difficult that responsibility can be. Suffice it to say he learned far more from that than he did researching his topic of Child Soldiers.

We made a trip into Osaka the other evening for the Hanshin Tigers and Orix Buffaloes baseball game.

This game is the equivalent of the Cubs-White Sox rivalry. Japanese baseball games are so much fun. The atmosphere is comparable to a college basketball game, nothing like pro baseball in the US. Each team has a little band that plays when their team is up to bat. The fans are quiet (literally) unless their team is up to bat. Then they chant something different for each player and bang their cheer bats together instead of clapping. It is quite a sight to see. By the 6^th inning of US baseball games I’m usually bored out of my mind, but that is not the case here in Japan.

The uniqueness extends beyond the game atmosphere. Our free “gift” as we walked into the stadium was a full size bottle (220ml) of antibacterial hand cleaner. Seriously.

Some food is similar. You can order the standard fries and corn dog (or American Dog as it is called here). But also available is a variety of noodles and a bento boxes.

The beer vendors carry kegs on their backs in a pack resembling the brand of beer they are peddling.

Between the 6^th and 7^th innings everyone blows up balloons and lets them go simultaneously.

The last game we attended two years ago was during the H1N1 scare/overreaction. They didn’t allow the balloons at that time for fear of spreading infected spittle around the stadium. Probably a good idea now that I think about it.

Nathan has been taking piano lessons since January and had his first public piano performance Saturday.

The recital included about ten other students. Nathan did a great job considering he is a beginner and doesn’t practice much. His solo choice was Axel F. He did very well even though he said he was really nervous.

He and his teacher did a duet as well. Although his teacher is Japanese, she went to college at U of I Champaign-Urbana. Another small world anecdote.

As usual, the boys are always making us smile….

Nathan is studying sex education during this last month of school. He informed me the other day that he is “going through a thing called puberty and will likely be having mood swings.” Alrighty then. Noted. There were a few more comments that made me smile, but considering the subject they aren't appropriate to share.

A few months ago Caden came running into my room naked with his clothes tucked under his arm. He have me very clear instructions, complete with hand gestures. He waved his hand in circles in front of his face and told me, “Only look here, mom.” Then said, again while waving his hand in circles in front of his “privacy”, as he refers to it, “Don’t look down here. Only look up here.”

In the mornings after stripping off his pajamas, Caden insists on getting dressed socks first. One day I suggested he start with his underwear. Completely unconvinced by my suggestion, he continued putting on his socks while offering this profound truth, “You can’t see it if you don’t look.” Can’t argue with that.

Saying sayonara is getting harder and harder every year. This year we already said goodbye to our neighbors. And have yet to bid farewell to three really good friends who will leave a huge void in our lives and hearts next year. Right now I’m in denial. Seems to make it easier to get through this part of the year. The next few weeks will be tough.

I will just keep focused on our anticipated home leave at the end of June. We will be leaving for the states on June 26 and returning to Japan on August 8. This will most likely be our last home leave. Next year we will be the ones saying sayonara…which will be even harder.