Gardening

Woke up to some beautiful blue skies and sun peaking through, hopefully we are done with all of the rain for awhile, but this is the mountains and the weather is always volatile. We all were up at normal times today, and ate breakfast while Yasuko and Koby went to school.

Koby and the school kids are outside practicing for their sports festival that is coming up in a little over a week. They have been practicing running, throwing balls into a basket, dancing and playing songs on their flute recorders. Koby is really enjoying going to school here.

After breakfast I went outside to plant a row of soy beans that Kitayama grandma had given me, I will probably have enough soybeans to supply the whole town with, after that I weeded both of my potato beds of all the grass that had started growing on them, there are potato plants starting to poke their heads through the dirt, so I was pretty excited when I saw that.

After weeding the potato beds, I planted the rest of the corn seeds that I had, so far I have a 100% germination rate, so if that keeps up I should have about 30 corn plants. I plan on doing several small rows of corn in hopes of getting good pollination rates, and if I have seedlings left over I will just give them to someone else. All of the other plants are looking good so far.

Koby came home from school and said that he had been invited to Fujita-sans house and that they planned on making chewing gum. I am not sure how that is done, but he was instructed to bring some honey with him. Evan is outside playing with the remaining kids that stayed behind.

My friend Ben stopped by today to show me the motorcycle he just bought, it is a Honda and is a 50cc bike, here in Japan Motorbikes under 50cc can be driven with a regular car drivers license, but anything over 50cc needs a motorcycle license. The bike was made in 1997 an is modeled after a 1960's style bike, I think it looks cool, in a retro sort of way. A motorcycle here in the summer would be nice to have, but 6 months of the year, it would be sitting in a garage somewhere, because of snow.

It is getting dusk now and the boys are at the playground getting the last playtime in before it gets dark, Yu is outside riding her unicycle and Yasuko is in the kitchen getting dinner ready. I didn't hear from the school I interviewed with, but they said 2-3 days so hopefully tomorrow I will get some good news.

Genghis Khan

Everyone was up around the normal times, Yasuko and Koby were off to school while Evan and I did our normal routine. Evan and myself ate breakfast and then I quickly went outside to uncover the plants a bit and let them breathe. The day started off sunny and warm but later after lunch started to get windy and cold. Yasuko came home at lunch and we had to go to town hall and the dollar store to run some errands.

When we got back I closed the plastic on the plants and we decided to have a semi-BBQ in our house with the new hot-plate that we purchased the other day. We had cabbage, onions, bean sprouts, shitake mushrooms and lamb marinated in a sugar soy base. The local Hokkaido people like to refer to the lamb meat as Genghis Khan. The dinner was great and I even took a short video of it, that I will try and put up for everyone to see.

In the mail today was a surprise that I have been waiting for, it's the new Flip Video Digital Camcorder. The camera we had, battery decided to die and would not keep a charge, we checked out how much a new battery would be and it was going to cost us over $100 dollars... WOW!! My new camera only cost $140, and that is exactly why I got it.

It is very easy to use and runs off of 2 double AA batteries, and uses no tapes, it is all solid state and downloads straight to your computer, no fuss. Thanks Dad for ensuring it got to me quickly.

The rest of the day was unremarkable and nothing to mention, I miss all of my family and friends, but we are doing great and loving living here.

Temp: High - 64
Low - 39

Job Interview

Everyone was up at their normal times this morning, Evan and I did our normal routine eating cereal, toast and coffee and watching kids shows on TV. We have to get ready quickly this morning to make it to my interview at Pi Pi International English School, I think we will leave at 10:00 am just to be on the safe side that we make it on time. We have never been there before and just want to allocate time if we get lost. It is not that far away, and probably only takes about 20 minutes to get there. Wish me luck!

The interview went well and I am very confident that I will get this job, another person was applying for the same position when I arrived but was an hour late, so maybe I already have the advantage since I was right on time. After the interview I hung around to observe how the other teachers operated with the children there. I saw about 8 children from ages 2-5 in attendance, and they all came over to talk with me and show me their art projects that they had just completed.

Playing with kids, doing art with them, singing and dancing and getting paid for it, while exposing the Japanese children to a English speaking environment, what more could you ask for? The person who interviewed me said that she would give me a call in 2-3 days to let me know what the results of my employment would be. From what I understood I will be working from 9 am to 5 pm 4 days a week and then 1 pm to 6 pm at a local Elementary school for one ore day, for a total of 37 hours per week.

The person who interviewed me said that Evan could attend also for free, this is like a big bonus being that this school is very expensive and charges about $500 a month for a 5 day week. My pay will be around $2000 dollars a month, which will provide us plenty of money for all of our expenses with a little less than half of it left over. Hokkaido rent is very cheap, now we are paying $160 a month, but have to move out in 4 more months since this house is allocated for the teachers that teach at Shibinai Elementary school, there is another house in front of us that is owned by the city and is newer and a little larger that costs $360 a month. We want to live there since we will be able to stay for as long as we are able to pay rent, so even if the school closes and the boys have to attend the next closest school our housing will be set.

The rest of the day was spent making a trip to a local Electronic Store to look for Koby a video game he has been wanting and then I played with the neighborhood kids until it started to get dark. For dinner we are having curry and rice, Yummy! One of my favorite dishes!

Temp: High - 54
Low - 46

Fresh From the Garden

Koby and Yasuko were up at school time while Evan and I got up at 8:00 am, Evan set down to a breakfast of cereal and kids shows, while I typed up the Shibinai diary for the day and drank a cup of coffee. I need to go out and raise the plastic on one side of both mini green houses so the plants can get some air. I think I will start some more corn plants today, I have so much space in my school garden plot I am still undecided what else to put there except a lot of corn, In the picture you can see some asparagus fresh out of my garden.

The weather is overcast now, but is supposed to be in the low 60's, the school kids were out in the garden plot today so I walked outside to see what they were planting. Today was just flowers called "Basalm", I never heard of them before, tomorrow is supposed to be vegetable planting day if the weather is ok. Later on in the day after Yasuko came home and we went into town and I got a much needed haircut, we had a couple of hours before Japanese class so we decided to go to Bestom because Yasuko wanted an electric hotplate that we can sit on the table and cook things in front of us.

The weather took a turn for the worse and the rain just pored down, we rushed to get back in time for Japanese class only to find a message from our teacher saying she would not be able to make it because of being sick with a fever. I called a local International Kindergarten instead that was looking for an English Teacher to see if they needed any help and have to go in for an interview tomorrow at 11:00 am

I quickly got a resume together and saved it to a small flash drive that Fujita-san had let me use, we dropped it off at their house and asked if they could print it out for us, she said no problem she would get her husband to do it and bring it over tomorrow. Dinner was Okonomiyaki, which is the Japanese pancake style food made with cabbage, sliced pork, egg, fish cake, with a sauce on top and bonito (tuna) flakes sprinkled on top. It was great and the new hot plate worked fine.

Temp: High - 63
Low - 50

Ramen Village

We all slept until about 8:15 am this morning and then everyone pretty much got up at the same time, Yasuko made toast for everyone while I went out to raise the sides of my mini greenhouse's. The weather is overcast today and Asahikawa says it will be rainy, although the weather here in Shibinai right next to the mountain is always a little different, so who knows what will happen.

We are helping collect old newspapers and magazines today for the school to recycle, the money goes to the operation of school functions, we are all meeting at the community center at 10:00 am. Collecting the papers was pretty easy and we made 2 trips to get all of the magazines and newspapers and boxes people had left at their doorsteps for recycling. When we finished Yasuko, the kids and I went to a flea market that was being held at the park we went to the other day that had the castle. The weather was rainy and got cold, everyone started packing up their items just after we arrived and we missed out on most of the items.

We mostly ate food there, and did very little shopping, Yasuko bought a cutting board and some honey made from bees in a cherry blossom field. We ate sausages on a stick, steamed bread filled with scallops and cheese, and ice cream, it was all real good, afterwards we came back home and rested for a while until Yasuko asked me if I still felt like going somewhere else, Why not let's go!! We went to Homac which is a store similar to Home Depot in the States, and then Toys R Us, yep they have one here also... and then we went to Asahikawa's Ramen Village. I had Kim-chee Ramen and a bowl of rice with grilled pork, Evan had a half bowl of soy sauce Ramen, Koby had a Miso based Ramen that was a bit spicy and Yasuko had a soy sauce based ramen, we ate until we were ready to pop.

We got home late after stopping by a local food market and picking up a few items we needed for in the morning. Koby had a little homework to finish, and Evan got ready for bed right away and fell asleep fast, after Koby finished his homework he was in bed by 10:00 pm and fell asleep very shortly. It was a busy but fun day, I hope the weather starts improving from all of the overcast and rainy weather we have had recently, the difference in the rain here versus Texas is that in Texas it floods, and here it just sprinkles, but its cold.

Temp: High - 73
Low - 50

First Onsen

Today we slept late since there is no school, I got up at 8:30 am while everyone else got up at 9:00 am. Today Masani-san is coming over at lunch time to take us to the nursery to get some vegetable plants for our garden. The school has also allocated a spot for us which is even bigger than the spot I have out the front door, gosh I have no idea what to plant there. I think I will put some corn there since corn takes up a larger space, also we have soy beans that were given to us so maybe I will grow some soy beans also (Edemame).

Masani-san showed up at 10:00 am while we were still eating breakfast so we hurried up and got ready to go. We all rode in his van to a local nursery that he frequents and bought (1) bell pepper plant, (2) hot pepper plants, (1) Zucchini plant, (2) melon plants and (1) cucumber plant. After the trip to the nursery we drove around Biei a bit and looked at the beautiful landscapes and farmlands. We stopped at a petting zoo which was free and looked at, fed and petted some animals, we saw horses, cows, rabbits, sheep, goats, chickens, albino deer, and an ostrich. The kids had fun feeding everything grass and dandelions.

After that we came home and I planted all of the pepper plants and the cucumber plant in my miniature green house, also I have 6 corn plants that have sprouted in my little cups, once they get healthy enough I will transfer them to the school garden plot. Masani-san set up another small greenhouse on the school plot, and we planted the melons and zucchini. I have a lot more room for other things but have not decided what to add. So far the count is 2 tomato plants, about 20 green onion plants, lots of potatoes, corn, and the other items that I got today.

It was a very hot and beautiful day today, perfect for gardening. Koby and Evan are outside somewhere playing with the neighborhood kids, Yasuko is taking a nap on the couch while I type up the journal for today, both of us are sore from yesterdays work. After the gardening work was done I went next door to see if Yu-chan wanted to play ball, her brother and sister were spending the night at Sumians-sans house and she was by herself today. She came out and I rescued her from boredom until it started to get dark.

After we ate dinner, Yasuko suggested that we go to the Hana Kagura Hotel and take a bath at their onsen, there onsen is not a natural one like many places around Hokkaido it is more like a spa community bath. We loaded the kids in the car and took off, the hotel is very near our house and only takes about 5 minutes to get there. We went inside and Yasuko payed while the kids and myself stored our items in the lockers. It costs $4 each for Yasuko and myself and $1 for Koby, and Evan is Free, so a total of $9.

Yasuko left to go to the women's side and me and the boys went to the mens side, we went into the locker room and took off our clothes and then entered the bathing area. There were small stalls set up along the wall with stool and shower heads where we all washed our bodies, and then came the good part. There was a total of 5 soaking pools and a sauna, the first one I tried was lukewarm so I passed on it to get in the hot one, while the kids got next to me in the lukewarm one. Actually the hot one was not that hot, and I make our bath at home much hotter usually. The boys joined me in the hot one and had a blast walking around the huge pool, I looked out the large ceiling high windows and thought I saw the reflection of somebody outside, and then realized there was people outside, I told Koby to go check and see if there were more pools outside, he came back with a big smile and said there were, so off we went.

Outside was Amazing, sitting in the cool air in a Hot Steamy pool under the stars was a great experience, they had the outside lit up with blue rope lights that lined the hill that we sit on, I liked the outside pools much better than being inside. After soaking outside I told the boys lets check out the sauna, after walking in and staying for all of 10 seconds the boys left while I stayed for a few minutes until the sweat was rolling off my body. The rest of the time was spent alternating between the pools and the boys braving the small ice cold pool, I stepped in the cold one and it was so cold that your toes would instantly start to get numb.

At 5 minutes until 10:00 pm we headed back to the dressing room to dry off and get dressed, Yasuko was waiting for us outside and apparently had been there for about 20 minutes, I asked he why she didn't stay until closing time, and she said she was worried that we were out waiting for her. We all really enjoyed it and will definitely return for another relaxing bathing adventure.

We returned home and the boys went straight to bed while Yasuko and I stayed up too late (12:30 am)

Temp: High - 75
Low - 46

Rice Farming

We all were up at 7:00 am to get ready for the rice field work day. Yasuko had to make a lunch for school today since the cafeteria people were off today, she made Evan and myself a lunch also to take to Fujita-sans house. Koby left for school at the normal time and Evan and I left at 7:50 am to walk to Fujita-sans house, when we arrived Fujita Grandpa and Grandma had already planted half of one field, so we waited until they were finished and then was explained what my job was.

My responsibilities for that day was to hand the trays of rice plant sprouts to Ji-chan (grandpa) after he made one pass in the rice field with the tractor, I also took the empty trays off of the tractor and washed the mud off of them, and then did the same thing over and over. We loaded the trays of rice sprouts on the small truck they have and then I would drive it out to the field and stage the trays on the side of the field. After about an hour and a half we took a juice and snack break, but the juice turned out to be a beer, so there I was drinking a beer in the rice fields at 9:30 am in the morning (The breakfast of Champions). haha

At lunchtime we took a break and went into the house to eat, Yasuko showed up at 12:30 pm and ate lunch while I took a short nap before we had to start again. After lunch we planted about 2.5 more fields, in total we planted about 5 fields, we finished as it was getting dusk. Oba-san (grandma) asked if I wanted to be payed in money and I declined, they have helped us so much I couldn't possibly take money from them, but they said they would give us rice instead. We usually pay $30 - $40 for 10 kilos (22 pounds) of rice, and the rice that Fujita-san grows is much better than the one you find in the store, so that will be a fine payment.

After the day was done they had ordered a Sushi dinner for all of us, I wanted to go home and take a shower first but they said no you take a shower at our house, let all of the kids take one together first and then Yasuko and myself. Yasuko started laughing because in Japan it is common to take baths together in the Hot Springs here and since Fujita-san has 2 girls ages (8) and (7) we wondered how Koby and Evan was going to react. After a little convincing that it was ok and that he needed to get used to it he agreed and all of the kids had a great time bathing together, in fact we had to make them get out because they were in there so long.

After a great meal and a relaxing bath and not to mention good company, we all were taken home by Fujita-san, the boys went to bed shortly afterwards and Yasuko and myself followed.

Temp: High - 66
　　Low - 50