Made In Taiwan…

GUYS. GUYS.

I WENT TO TAIWAN AND FOUND THIS & IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT TO ME:

It’s a cup…made in Taiwan.

I laughed. I cried. It was better than Cats.

So, this was a five-day, four-night, round island excursion that I realise was mostly fun for Oakie & I.
Hearing about someone else’s “awesome trip” is only cool if there are funny stories & awesome pictures.

With that in mind:

Our 5-Day Trip In 50 Pictures or Fewer & As Many Funny Stories As I Remember

This was a bus tour that started in the northern most part of Taiwan (the capitol Taipei), took us down around the east side to the southernmost part and then back up the western side seeing historically important, geographically relevant highlights along the way. It was presented in Mandarin & English and was a mix of tourism & vacation. A total blast.

WARNING: I love hotels and these were über nice so I’ll have pictures of those.
I apologise if that isn’t your cup of local Taiwanese tea.
WHICH THEY HAD FOR FREE IN EVERY ROOM.

Day 1:
Welcome to Taiwan, where the planes fly with the butterflies.

We were picked up from our hotel in the capitol of Taiwan, Taipei, after breakfast (where we found the vases from IKEA that we used in as our wedding table-centerpieces).

Pretty short day.

Saw a buddhist temple:

Found a worker’s hat.

Put it on.

And traveled to Sun Moon Lake–a treasure of Taiwan that was one of the highlights of the whole trip.

Hotel was amazing.

Hot springs in your room.

Paper cranes on your bed.

View from our hotel, the Fleur de Chine:

But in an effort to be transparent,

if you looked the OTHER way,

it was totally parking lot all the way…

And then they leave outfits in your room & Oakie convinces you that EVERYONE at the hotel is wearing theirs to dinner downstairs because HE SAW THEM and you ride the elevator down and the doors open to the dining room & everyone looks

& no one.

no. one.

NO ONE

is wearing their hotel outfit and you just let the doors close and ride back up…

and take this picture.

Day 2:

Sunrise walk down to Sun Moon Lake where you couldn’t see the sunrise because of the mountains & clouds, but it was beautiful anyway.

Then we made another stop at a buddhist temple with the “big buddha” and it was gorgeous.

And then on to Kaohsiung where we saw Love River & one of the famous Night Markets of Taiwan!

Normal Picture

Oakie’s Normal Picture because he keeps snapping pictures just HOPING to catch me losing my mind in stop motion…

I stood on a chair in the middle of the road to take this. #noshame

I felt like we were on the Food Network…this won’t be the last time you hear that.

View from our hotel, the Grand Hi-Lai:

Day 3:

It actually got HOT on this portion of the trip where,

in 1 day,

we saw 3 different oceanic bodies of water:

The Taiwan Strait (between Taiwan & China)

& Bashi Channel (between Taiwan & the Philippines)

& the Pacific Ocean between Taiwan and the YOU(S-A).

But FIRST, we stopped at a fruit stand in the south of Taiwan famous for their mangos.

This was the part where Oakie said, “We just got tourist trapped.”

Because we bought this:

I felt like we were on the Food Network.

DON’T I LOOK LIKE A FOOD NETWORK GIRL??

Aw, thanks, guys! I do. I really do.

P.S. Everyone in Taiwan puts cereal on their ice cream…& you know what?

I think they got it right.

#convert

Those oceans tho…

Oakie WILL GET in an ocean.

Every. Time.

Next up, we visited an Wester Style lighthouse at the tip of the goose-beak peninsula in the southernmost part of Taiwan.

And there were SO MANY stray dogs there…

But when you saw their view, you understood the draw…

But they were totally illegal immigrants…I mean there was a SIGN.

I guess they didn’t understand the language…too far?

(also, Mary Lou, this kinda looks like maybe just Marty isn’t allowed…….)

And then the windy Pacific…seriously, these pictures DO NOT SHOW how windy it was…

I call this next collection: Mirror, Mirror (a.k.a. Earth & Sky; a.k.a. The Ups & Downs of Life)

View from our hotel, Hotel Royal Chihpen Spa:

Day 4:

This was a day of rocky coastlines & running so hard our sides hurt, just for the sake of seeing the beautiful (&, you know, making it back to the bus on time).

I call this picture A Preview of Cardio.

We ran those bad boys.

8 arches of stairs to get to the Imoto (Fairy) Islands.

If you’re looking at this & thinking, “It doesn’t look that bad, Caroline.”

JUST SHUT UP.

View of where we came from:

Oakie climbing. #classicOakie

I think this is perfect:

And then we went to a Buddhist temple in a cave & I took one of my favourite pictures:

Did y’all see the sunshine from America?

I mean, it was on the other side of the ocean, sooooooo….

I DIDN’T TAKE A PICTURE OF OUR HOTEL THIS NIGHT AND I’M SO SAD ABOUT IT.

So instead, here’s an awesome panorama:

& a picture of the aboriginal dance performance we got to see:

Day 5:

On our final day, we visited Taroko Gorge on the western side of Taiwan, where they mine marble, jade, star sapphire and lots of other semi-precious stones.

We took a tour of the quarry and I learned that you can tell real jade from fake jade by holding it up to a light. Real jade is transparent.

I’m now receiving all personal jade for appraisal/verification.

This place was GORGE-ous…

And we had to wear helmets, so WE were GORGE-ous.

That is marble in the rough y’all…

And then this little girl posed…

So WE posed…

Obviously…

At the risk of sounding self-aggrandizing, I HAVE to tell you the story of this little girl.

She was on our tour.

She is from China.

She is 4 and her name is Joseline (pronounced like Josephine).

She couldn’t speak English, but she was, like, minorly, obsessed with me.

She called me “pretty lady” in Mandarin and watched me/followed me for the first 2 days. By the 2nd day, her mom said she had asked if it was alright if she took a picture with me.

By Day 3, she had asked her mother if she could hug me:

By Days 4 & 5, we were BFFs.

She always kept an eye out for me and we communicated on the bus with hand signals:

//www.youtube.com/get_player

Sweet Joseline.

I will never forget her.

And with that, our tour ended.

A drive along the Pacific all the way back to Taipei.

An amazing trip through which I witnessed the glory of God in the rock faces of the cliffs and the friendly faces of the people we met on that bus.

Jesus said we should be as the little children.

Maybe today, you unabashedly show someone how much you admire them.

(Maybe hold off on the random hugging unless everyone involved is okay with it…)

If we could all notice, recognise & appreciate the gifts around us for what they are, maybe we could all get a little bit closer to that child in us that Jesus doesn’t want us to forget.

Thank you, Joseline, for that lesson.

& thank you, Jesus, for Joseline.

P.S. I 100% lied about the 50 photos or less, but now that I came clean, it’s all good, right?

Guys?

Lions & Tigers & Pandas Oh My!

Yes. It’s true. I’m posting late. But you know what they say, “Sometimes you make a schedule for the thing & then you don’t do the thing by the schedule & then it’s late & you shrug your shoulders & do the thing late anyway.”
So, you know, let that old, wise adage guide you today.

As I mentioned in my last blog post, we recently travelled to Taiwan on a 5-day Round Island excursion. It was both exactly what I expected and nothing I could’ve dreamed in a million years all in one. I can’t wait to tell you about it…next week.

Right now, there are just too many good things I have neglected to include that just tickle me. So without further ado, a segment I like to call:

 Too Many Good Things I Have Neglected To Include That Just Tickle Me

(working title)

1. I mentioned our Headstart teachers a couple of time in one of my earlier posts, but did I mention that Mitsuo-san SANG FOR US & PLAYED A TRADITIONAL JAPANESE MUSICAL INSTRUMENT THAT HE TAUGHT HIMSELF HOW TO PLAY & I LISTENED & FELT A LOT OF THINGS & I THINK I LOVE HIM NOW?? I didn’t think so.

Ahem. Here is a video so you can empathise/understand me/think I’m less crazy:
Mitsuo-san Sings. It’s a little long, but the very end shows a tiny snippet of his personality & it’s wonderful.

And here are the gingerbread men we made them as gifts. Except we made them ninjas and called them ninjabread men. Oakie’s idea. The man’s a genius, I tell ya.

Also, Mitsuo-san wasn’t familiar with American gingerbread men so he just thought we made a cookie shaped like him. It was pointless to talk him out of believing it, so the magic lives on.

2. We are really into the tours the MWR (Military Something Something Recreation) offers so we’ve signed up for ALL of them. We’re planning to go see the snow monkeys in the hot springs this month as well as TWO strawberry picking events that include hiking and ice cream (so…duh). Oh, and we’re going to the 40th annual Sumo Wrestling Tournament in February and I still don’t know how to feel about it. I say all of this to explain that we recently went on one of these day-trip tours to Kyoto (the former capitol of Japan).

Notice something with me here: Kyoto is the old capitol. Tokyo is the new capitol. Their names mean Western Capitol and Eastern Capitol, respectively. Also, their names of opposites of each other. HOW COOL IS THAT?! To- and Kyo- switch places. Kyoto. Tokyo. I love Japanese.

The trip to Kyoto included two Buddhist temples and one walk through an illuminated park. Here are some pictures as I tried to capture some of the magnitude of the experience.

Ahem. Self-timer MASTERED. *self-timer self-five* #selfies

Um, yes. That pavilion is covered in gold.

Japanese tea & cake break.

Tiny door celebration.

Nighttime Illumination Walk

3. In Japanese, there’s an adage that hiccuping means you “stole an egg.” We learned this because (THANK GOODNESS) Oakie got the hiccups in front of Ramon (who took us to lunch again) & he laughed and asked if he stole an egg. I’ll never see hiccuping the same.

4. AND SPEAKING OF EGGS. The first time I bought eggs in Japan at the Commissary, I noticed they were locally sourced (cool by me, bro), but that the date on top was very close. Like only 3-4 days away. Thankfully, I was doing a lot of baking so I wasn’t too concerned about using them all before the date. Also, they sell them in quantities of 10 so even easier! However, Ramon told us that the date on the eggs isn’t an expiration date at all. It’s the date by which it’s safe to eat them raw (!!!). So just call me Gaston…

jk. jk. I haven’t eaten any raw yet…BUT I MIGHT.

5. I’ve mentioned before that I LOVE Japanese birthdays & apparently SO DO THEY. In fact, it’s a national holiday…if you’re the emperor. And guess who got invited to the party/public appearance & speech?
That’s right.
Everyone in Japan.
So we went, because one does not simply ignore the emperor’s birthday. It was crazy. There were ~~millions~~ ~~thousands~~ (I cannot estimate crowds for the life of me. There could’ve been ten of us there. I wouldn’t know…) hundreds of people in this huge courtyard where he received his guests and we all got these cool party favours:

And then there he was with his wife & daughters

& he turned 82 & gave a two minute speech

& it was the quietest group of 90 million people I’ve ever heard.

Tokyo is a beautiful place to have a birthday party. Good call, Emperor.

Old & New right beside each other.

Plus, they even paint all the cranes festive colours for you

& tour guides bring festive Follow-the-Leader equipment & sometimes they let you hold it for a minute while they do a headcount & you immediately start living out your dream of being tour guide one day.

As exciting as all this was, we were NOT invited to he slumber party afterwards….whatevs. We’re not even mad about it.

He’s clearly on the next level of Big Deal & we’re new here so we understood.

The Part Where We Go To The Zoo

And then we were released to spend the rest of our day seeing the Tokyo Zoo & National Museum & Nature Museum…but let’s be real. Oakie & I spent all 5 free hours at the zoo. #worthit

Because we got to see a PANDA!

I‘d never seen one in real life (that I can recall so this was HUGE…I’m serious. That bear was so big.)

Also, someone please appreciate that this photo is in black & white…

Also, check out THIS fantastic shot…………..that I saw on a poster outside.

And also THIS panda

…gotcha.

It’s really Oakie.

If you know me well enough to know what my spirit animal/patronus is then you know that otters are very important to me & this cheeky little fellow was no different.

I actually have, like, 47 pictures of him, but I spared you.

You’re welcome.

He played with our hearts for a good ten minutes before finally travelling through the clear tube that put him outside the enclosure in a clear tub of water.

He then swam the loop one time and went right back to the cage.

//www.youtube.com/get_player

And he looked right at me as if to say, “No. YOU’RE welcome.”

I call this next collection:

Good Picture Of The Kid

Good Picture Of The Tiger

This pretty birdy POSED for me.

I swear.

Solid ten minutes on that branch just WORKING that camera.

Plus also roosters.

And Taco’s Asian Cousin

& last, but not least, our favourite exhibit.

The Ezo Sika Deer.

We had a chat.

It was magical.

Here is a video.

I think we’re engaged now…

(loud one is me & the softer one is him)

Bonus Material:

This awkward video I took of the polar bear collecting his toys…

And that’s all she wrote….

Next week.

You.

Me.

Taiwan.

Interim Post

We are currently traveling through Taiwan on a brief holiday. Internet is hotel-dependent since our phones are Japan-exclusive so this is a bite-sized blog to hold you over till I can make a full-sized post in a few days. Because, obviously, you’ve been sitting by your phone just WAITING for me to post again…obviously. #delightfuldelusions

Here are the thingz: (thingz was originally a typo but then I liked it so now I’m three degrees cooler than I was before)

I have now been out of my home country for the longest amount of time yet. I’ve studied abroad twice for 5 weeks each, but as we complete our 6th week away this is the longest at one time. And we’re still two years away from Stateside Life.

Some things I’ve realized about my Western Self:

1. I love red brick. It’s familiar and homey and almost completely missing from Asian architecture. Yes, I realize this is a resources issue and that red brick isn’t really “American” inherently, but it’s representative and I’m ok with that.

2. I love yards. Big green, grassy, annoying-to-mow yards. I want to run in one…right now.

3. I miss red hair…and blonde hair. And blue eyes. And green eyes. I know, it’s silly, but these brunette around here rule the roost and a “homogenous society” is starting to make more sense…

You can still take bad pictures on a good camera. And I don’t mean the blurred-is-kind-of-in-right-now-I-can-make-this-work kind of bad. I mean the kind where if you got three of four of these on a roll of film, you just wasted almost 20% of your money spent.

“That was a tourist trap. We just got tourist trapped!” -Oakie (about the fresh fruit stand)

Classroom flashback: I feel possessive of seats that I’ve sat in one time. Like I walk back on the tour bus and see someone in “my” seat and I’m all ready to tell them there’s been a terrible mistake and THEY’VE TAKEN MY SEAT when Oakie reminds me we’re supposed to be rotating through the bus and all I can think is, “But I miss my friends!” #attachmentissues

Ok. That’s all I got. Byeeeee.

A Christmas in Japan

I went back & forth and back & forth on whether or not I should write this post.

Would the audience accept a less quippy, Japanese-themed post in exchange for a more thoughtful, solemn essay?

Would I lose readers because I went too deep?

Would it be offensively weighty?

But I trust you. I trust you to read if you like and pass if you don’t. I won’t insult your intelligence by assuming you can’t make that choice. So if you’ve had enough of artsy-heartsy Christmas posts and you’re just here for your dose of Japanese life, meet me here next week?

For now, I have this small corner of the internet and, if I may, I’d like to prop up a little Christmas tree here and turn on the lights.

I’ve been celebrating Christmas in a different way this year than I ever have in the past. I’m usually surrounded by family and laughter and noise and music and movies.

It’s a bit quieter in Japan. We have the music some nights and I’ve watched 3 Christmas movies and trust me, WE LAUGH, but it’s an altogether lower decibel Christmas this year.

The busy is missing and the hustle they sing about in the songs is easy to avoid when all your shopping is shipped before December 10th so it makes it by Christmas.

And the quiet, as it does if you let it, brings with it a small dose of reflection and an invitation to explore a little deeper. I accepted. And so in the corner by the tree, I’ll share what’s happening in this artsy-heart.

Christmas is a big event. Commercially. Personally. Relationally.

Big marketing campaigns.

Big dinner plans.

Big lists (that must be checked twice).

Big story. The biggest story in the history of the world, if you believe what it says. And even if you don’t, the claims of this story are certainly the biggest. A God of the universe becomes a baby…a tiny helpless human predicted to SAVE THE WORLD, conceived & born of a virgin…a teenage girl, who could’ve been stoned for betraying her betrothal vows. This baby then grows up living a perfect life and performs miracles of healing & immense power only to throw all the fame away to die by crucifixion with a promise to take away our sins and defeat DEATH in a death-defying rise from the grave 3 days afterward.

I’m sorry…wha??

I’m not here to defend the claims of the Scripture that Jesus lived, died & rose again. There are lots of more qualified resources for that. I’m just here to tell you how my belief in that big story is shaping my small life this quiet Christmas.

Several years ago, I read in a beautiful book by Sheldon Vanauken “Van” called A Severe Mercy (I could give this a full run-down and recommendation, but for sake of time & topic, suffice it to say that it’s wonderful, so go read it) an auto-biographical story of Sheldon and his wife, Jean Davis “Davy”, their love for each other and their friendship with C.S. Lewis that eventually culminated in a conversion to Christianity. The story-telling of this couple’s love of & devotion to one another is breath-taking in its grandeur and simultaneous simplicity. It’s not an imagined, romantic, Notebook-esque story, but it leaves you thinking, “I thought that only existed in the movies.” It’s that over-powering and enchanting. But it all boils down to glass of water.

In an explanation of the level of love and devotion they were willing to give each other, Van doesn’t read us an oath they signed in blood or a grandiose vow to die for each other if needed, he tells us of a promise they made to always be willing to bring the other a glass of water. No matter what they were doing or what time of night, if one asked for a glass of water the other would bring it to them.

How laughably little they promised each other.

But don’t you feel it? Don’t you see the pristine example of selflessness this is?

We are not often asked to jump in front of a bullet, to lay on the grenade, or to stop a speeding train, though our hearts, in the throes of love, shout that we would do any number of these and more if it were asked of us. It seems actually easier to promise that which we will, most likely, never have to do.

But what if the test of our love were a glass of water? Now that’s dangerous. I might have to do that every day. I might have to show you my love as I promised it: With a daily relinquishing of my rights so you can have a glass of water.

I can feel it in my heart now. The courage to help Oakie if he was in danger rises up in my chest as I sit on this couch imagining all the ways I save the day. It’s just as real as the irritation I feel when I’m interrupted because he needs a favour. I’m embarrassed as I type. What if I’m the only selfish one that cringes when I hear that voice I love asking me to STOP WHAT I’M DOING AND HELP HIM?

But, love, can’t you see I’m reading?

You don’t understand, GILMORE GIRLS is on.

No, but YOU’RE CLOSER.

The ire I am capable of unleashing is better kept for a villain who threatens our lives, but aren’t the tinges of it right there at the edges of my heart when he gets it wrong or misunderstands or forgets…again? Just me?

Stay with me; Christmas is around the corner.

So what is the root of that ire? That grating pain as I comply, but grumble?

Isn’t it the pain of dying just a bit? Dying to my desires? Dying to my rights?

Could this be the version of dying for each other I’ve been given?

And isn’t it just the smallest thing?

I’m here to tell you, I married a guy who excels at this kind of death; this kind of life.

He is so incredibly selfless, sometimes it hurts to be married to a guy so kind.

Sometimes it shows in sharp relief the hurt I’ve dealt him with my sharp words and my knees buckle under the weight of my ingratitude. And I feel another small piece of myself die and be replaced with a fresh desire to love him like that.

It happens when I say to him, “I’m really frustrated with you right now.”

When he didn’t communicate and he DIDN’T TELL ME THE PLAN and I’m hungry and there was NO COFFEE this morning.

And I turn my face to the window of the car so I don’t have to see him extending his hand to hold mine; that way I could play it off as unseen instead of another unkindness.

And he just says softly, “It’s ok.”

And I add it to my ammunition to fire another round. It’s ok? Gee, thanks for your permission to be frustrated but—–

And just as the Proverbs say, his gentle answer turns away my anger.

He didn’t rear up to fight back. He didn’t defend himself against my out-of-proportion annoyance. He didn’t swing the spotlight around to show all of my wrongs. He just acknowledged it in gentle love. And my answer came in kind.

When he shows me that kind of love time & time again it chips away at my ego and my need to be right and instead creates in me a desire to find a way to show him how thankful I am.

He died for me right then. He died to his pride & his right to be right & his big love came right down small to me.

And isn’t this the Christmas story?

Didn’t the big God come right down small?

And before He ever did the big dying, He did the small dying.

He was wrongly accused & reputation-ruined & belittled & forgotten & dismissed, but He didn’t rear up to fight back. He didn’t defend Himself against our out-of-proportion ire. He didn’t swing the spotlight. He just acknowledged it in gentle love.

He died to His pride & His right to be right & His big love came right down small to me.

And He died for me right then. On that cross. Those two thousand years ago.

The biggest loving & living & dying started with the smallest.

the small girl from the small town loving a small man and a small baby.

And He says, “Follow Me.”

If we can follow Him in the small ways of dying to ourselves so others can have a glass of water, won’t these small deaths eventually add up to a whole life of big love?

So then, Luke 16:10 makes a little more sense when it says, “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much.”

The big God came down to show us that the way to the big things we desire: value, purpose, joy, forever-living, peace, harmony, beauty is the really the way to Him: Jesus.

Acknowledging this will cause a dying in you. And dyings are painful. I feel it every time I lay down myself for the glass of water. We can’t do it on our own. We need Him to show us the way, but because we’re so set on turning our face to the window we will not take His hand.

Thank God that He takes ours.

And He doesn’t take it by force, swinging the spotlight and angrily showing us our faults. He comes in a soft answer, a little baby born in a little town weaving a big story of a big love.

Showing you, through His life and death, time & time again, that

He values you.

More than this whole big wide world.

He. Loves. You.

You need do nothing more extravagant than turning to Jesus.

Look to Him for your meaning

and your value

and your purpose

and in Him you will find joys unimaginable.

He already showed you how He thinks of you when He sent that baby to give you a way to see Him and know Him and love Him back. He came for you.

And if that soft answer is turning away your anger, turning your face away from that window reflection of yourself & your endless attempts at creating happiness and purpose out of yourself, I believe it is evidence that He is calling you now. Follow Him. He’s been coming for you from the beginning.

merry Christmas.

love,

caroline

Ramen with Ramon

This week was one of little joys.

I will share them with you as I encountered them: In a simple, small, joyful way.

We recently visited a small church in Machida (one town over from ours) where we immediately felt at home. There were no more than 30 people at the English service that afternoon, but it was one of earnest worship and humble love to these two newcomers. We weren’t able to attend the following week because Oakie had to work and I lost my set of car keys (hold your laughter, please), but later in the week we received an invitation to lunch from a man we’d met at the church. Thank you, Jesus, for brave & selfless people who reach beyond themselves to hold onto us because we all belong to each other.

Enter Ramon (or Ramòn maybe?). He remembered us from the service and also works on Camp Zama, but as a civilian. He bravely followed up and offered to take us to lunch on Wednesday. He drove us to a shared parking lot for 3 restaurants and let us choose: Sushi, upscale Japanese lunch, or ramen from a shack. I’ve mentioned before that Oakie’s been into noodles lately, plus, shacks tend to be the homes of the best hole-in-the-walls I know……..so ramen it was. Now, I realise the role that ramen has taken in present-day American society.

It’s the package of choice for poor, broke college students who just need to make it to next week; it’s the just-add-hot-water-and-stir staple of the down-and-out. But here….it’s an art form.

The shack seated about 12 people side by side on low stools at a bar facing the kitchen. Your order is placed at the vending machine by the door and the water is self-serve (come to think of it, I don’t think there were other drink options…). After a brief volley of bows and arigato gouzaimasu-es, we took our seats and waited. Watching these chefs was like a Food Network segment. They grabbed big bowls and added a small ladle-full of this and a dash of that and a big dipper of milky white broth and then the famed ramen which cooked as they topped it all with a slice of ham and a sheet of dried seaweed. This is then placed in front of you with chopsticks and a spoon while the bubbles of the boil are still subsiding. AND IT’S AMAZING. It’s creamy and savory with just the right amount of crunch and chew and all the ramen realities you know are burst with this perfect pin point dish that you’re already pencilling in your calendar to have again. SPOILER: If/when you come to visit, we will be taking you to this place so you too can be disappointed in American ramen in a whole new way.

Funny thing we learned from Ramon/òn: The Japanese borrowed the word ‘mansion’ from the english language and have attached it to apartment complexes.

No amount of correcting them will change their minds.

Apartments are mansions.

So just shut up about it.

[Enter clever transition here]

So, as many of you know, I had a birthday this week (thank y’all for the greetings and well-wishes!!!). I highly recommend you try this whole Japanese-birthday thing. Little secret about birthdays in Japan…they last a whole lot longer than regular old American birthdays. I (justifiably) started celebrating 14 hours before y’all and then got a 14 hour extension too! Henceforth and forevermore, I will be celebrating in this fashion. 38 hours of birthday privilege! It’s a lot easier to sell than the birthday-week or birthday-month thing. These are cut down by the fact that birthDAY has a set time limit within the name, but if you play the time zone angle, it’s STILL your birthDAY for 38 hours because science. You’re welcome.

I had a lovely 38-hour day complete with a make-your-own-Pad-Thai at the Pacific Rim restaurant on our housing area where they sang “Happy Birthday” and gave me a cupcake with a candle and this lovely picture:

And speaking of pictures, [note to self: transition nailed] I GOT A NEW CAMERA AND IT’S FANCY AND I DON’T KNOW HOW TO USE IT, BUT I’VE ALREADY TAKEN 78 PICTURES. To celebrate this addition to our family, (other than to use all caps, obviously), I will show you some pictures of our house and my birthday baking efforts and the candles.

But first, the first ever pictures taken by my camera:

Our sitting room/sewing room/display room for my #taylorswift magazine:

(didn’t think I’d get it in there, did ya?)

[note to self: nailed it. again.]

My favorite spot in the house (sorry, Taylor) is this Christmas still life.

A little place where my decorations make me happy.

Baking Chewy Chai Spice Sugar Cookies on my birthday because it delights me to put something undone into a hot box and then take it out deliciously done.

Plus, they have cream cheese in them and I basically NEEDED them.

And then Oakie put 26 candles into 26 cookies and sang to me. #blessed

And then, perhaps the highlight of my week, starts with a confession:

Hi. My name is Caroline Elizabeth Osborne née Garcia (I just learned about the word ‘née and I want to take a moment to congratulate myself on smoothly squeezing it into my blog… OKAY OKAY, we’re getting back to the confession) and I had never seen a single Star Wars movie until Friday night.

Now before you go all “I’m gonna unfriend you on Facebook and ruin your reputation and kick over your trashcans” on me, please know: I have now watched ALL SEVEN OF THEM. One each day until the midnight premiere here in Japan when I watched Episode III right before Episode VII. I…I…I’m a fan. There. I said it. You know what they always say, “Late is great.” Right? …guys?

Another thing you need to know: I have formally committed to pronouncing it so that Wars rhymes with Star…go ahead. Give it a shot. Star. Wars. SO FUN RIGHT? So there’s that…

But seriously, I am a fan. And I will not espouse my new-found opinion on the movie so as not to spoil it for other die-hard fans like myself.

To prove my love, I did my hair Princess Leia-style for the premier and I was NOT ASHAMED.

I also used our wrapping paper tube as my light sabre.

And yes, I know that Princess Leia doesn’t use them.

#artisticlicense

so that was our week.

it was small and simple and wonderful.

plus, I met a Japanese lady, Chieko-san, who offered to teach me the traditional Japanese tea ceremony and I am SO excited!

love from Japan.

and may the force be with you.

27 Things I Learned About Japan This Week

* I gave myself a week off from blogging so I could get our new digs (hello 70s lingo; where’d you come from?) all ready to be lived in and stuff. It was well worth the break. Thank you, retroactively, for your patience. *

This week found us in a classroom for 40 hours participating in a Japanese Crash Course, not to be confused with a very similar class, the Japanese How NOT To Crash Course where I earned my driver’s license—which I have used four entire times all by myself…without crashing! *self-five*

From this experience, I have narrowed down the gems I came away with to this simple list. Consider it your crash course in Japan. You’re welcome.

1. Just as there is a stereotype about all Japanese people being either samurais or ninjas, there is also an on-going stereotype that all Americans are gunslingers or sharp shooters. In the words of our sensei, Mitsuo-san, “Not all American carry gun! I was shock!”

(*all future quotes belong to Mitsuo-san unless otherwise noted*)

2. Speaking of samurais, did you know that many of the Japanese customs and/or mannerisms were born of samurai defense tactics? For instance, the whole chopsticks-in-noodles and drinking-from-your bowl things are simply more effective ways to eat when you constantly have to watch your back for enemy samurais! If you were bending over your bowl, they could “chop your neck off!” Anther example is the bow vs. handshake. A handshake could easily be a trick to pull you in and “chop your neck off”, but a bow can be as short or as deep as your trust in the other person.

Little trust = little bow.

Deep trust = deep bow.

3. In order to explain this to us even further, our 2^nd teacher, Takahashi-san compared it to how the biblical Gideon found his 300 soldiers. How they drank at the river showed their aptitude for alertness and battle readiness. Those who knelt to drink and brought the water to their mouths versus those on their bellies drinking straight from the river like dogs. Obviously, the kneeling soldiers were better ready for attack, but God had Gideon choose the lappers for His team. He chose the weak to defeat the strong so He could come through for them without them thinking they did it on their own. This is the beauty of the upside down kingdom of God…in other words, if you’re in Japan and you have noodles in broth, PICK YO BOWL UP FOOL!

4. Japanese people can tell Americans from other foreigners/Japanese because our dryer sheets smell so good. Most local families hang their clothes to dry, depriving them of the fresh Mountain Clear scent we’ve all come to know and love.

5. Remember that Georgia vending machine I snapped a shot of for my last blog post? Turns out, it is in fact owned by Coca Cola for distribution in Japan and the name is a nod to my good ol’ hometown where Coca Cola was invented: Columbus. TAKE THAT ATLANTA! Also, fascinating fact, the vending machines here serve cold and hot drinks. If you order a coffee in a can and the price is in red, it will be hot; blue will be cold. What is this world?

6. I was told in class that COSTCO stands for Chinese Off Shore Trading Company and was in China & Japan before it ever hit the states. I was floored! Our Costco? Our beacon of warehouse shopping experiences a la Sam’s Club started in China?? Turns out, after a quick verification search on the ever-reliable SNOPES,this was just our teachers pulling our legs/lying to us. Ah well, you win some, you lose some.

7. Along with thinking we’re all pioneers in buckskins, the Japanese are also in complete awe of our steaks’ sizes calling them “sandal-sized’ and “way better” than the famed Japanese Kobe beef, as far as bang-for-your-buck. I mean, since we all have a herd of cattle on our ranch outback, we might as well enjoy the steak, ammiright, pard?

8. In the morning and evening there are trains to Tokyo designated for Women Only. The trains here can get VERY crowded, so this is an option provided for women’s safety and comfort on their commute to work. #girlpower #yesallwomen #taylorswift (ok, you gotta give me that one. It totally worked…)

9. In the Japanese language, the numbers 4 (shi), 7 (shi-chi) and 9 (ku) rhyme with words that mean ‘death’, ‘death-place’ & ‘suffering’ respectively, so these are considered unlucky numbers and were all given alternate names (yon, nana & kyuu). I would say something clever about this, but I mean, come on. You can’t make this stuff up…

10. On a happier note, ‘puppy’ (a stand-alone cute word on its own) is ‘wan-chan’ in Japanese and that’s just the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. So now, you get a wan-chan picture. You’re welcome. [

Ok, FINE. You get two.

But we HAVE to move on now. P.S. It’s called a pomsky and I won’t judge you for squealing with pure delight at the height of adorableness.

11. And speaking of cute, those tamagotchi’s from the 90’s? The ones you had your friends babysit when you had to go to the bathroom for 5 minutes? Yeah, those. Tamagotchi means ‘cute little egg’ in Japanese.

*small epiphany causes your mind to be blown*

yeah…me too.

12. ‘Shabu shabu’ is a delicious style of food where you cook meat in hot broth.
‘Shabu’ alone is slang for heroin.
So be careful out there, kids.

13. And speaking of illegal drugs, the mafia here is alive and well and goes by Yakusa. Because of their gangs, tattoos are very taboo here and can get you banned from most hot springs & beaches. Glad I held off on those barbed wire arm rings…and you can stop pressuring me to make my love for you permanent, MOM.

14. In related news, if you get in bad with the mafia, they won’t kill you or blow you up (mostly because they can’t get their hands on any guns or explosives due to stricter laws), they’ll just start showing up at your place of business, ordering food and not paying for it and scaring the other customers off (who then tell all their friends not to go there anymore). Next thing you know, you’re closed down. Simple, yet effective. Moral of the story…pay for your food…or something like that.

15. Still want more on the mafia? May I recommend Black Rain? Please note, I haven’t seen it and it’s rated R for violence and language. It was recommended in class as a good example of how their mafia works, but if it doesn’t sound like your thing, please refrain from watching it, horrified, and then sending me hate mail.

16. Colors in Japan are not associated with gender. Pink and purple are abundant and are enjoyed for their beauty no matter the gender. #somanypinkcars

17. Ironically, here’s a story about how safe Japan was known to be about 50 years ago. Mitsuo-san told us a story of a man who owned a solid gold watch. He stopped one day to sit on a bench and wait for the bus. It was warm that day so he removed his wristwatch and jacket and laid them on the bench. Later, he grabbed his jacket, but left the watch. Not remembering where he lost it, he forgot about it. A few years later, he happened back by that part of the country and there on the very same bench was his watch in a plastic container, still keeping time because someone had protected it and then continued to wind it each day until its owner returned.

*jaw on floor*

#safetyfirst

#dontyoukindofwanttofindawatchnow?

18. Japanese read vertically and left to right. Oh yeah, and it’s all in kanji. Which looks like this:

本雜誌印法，旁行上左，並用西文句讀點之，以便插寫算術及物理化學諸程式，非故好新奇，讀者諒之。

19. Roads are so twisting in Japan that GPS devices are known for their faulty directions. Here is Mitsuo-san explaining this: “I cross bridge. It says turn left. I say, I will die.”

20. In related news, another quote from Mitsuo-san, “American straight roads are dream for Japanese!”

21. American coffee is considered weak in Japan. Therefore on most automatic coffee machines, you have the options: Blend Coffee & Weak Coffee. I guess they’ve never had Mr. Ron coffee………………

22. Japanese people never say, “I love you” after they are married. They just show each other and stay together.

23. And on the topic of love, on Valentine’s Day, the girl gives the guy chocolate & on Wives’ Day (March 14^th), the guys give the girls the normal American Valentine’s Day gifts, jewelry, roses, chocolate, etc.

24. Japanese weddings are paid for by the wedding guests via monetary gifts at the wedding. Then the couple, in turn, donates to another young couple’s wedding down the road.

25. Don’t put business cards in your back pocket, as they interpret the proximity to your…ahem, behind…quite insulting.

26. “Sake is considered a holy liquid here. Except when you drink too much…”-Takahashi-san

27. Japanese people have a phobia of western foreigners speaking English to them (even though most people learn it in school). They’ll go so far as to move away from you if you sit next to them on a train. They’re afraid their English will be too broken, too elementary. Y’all. Don’t I just feel their pain? But a simple ‘sumimasen’ (excuse me) will put them right at ease. If you are willing to speak broken Japanese, they are willing to speak broken English and we meet halfway ’round the world at the halfway point. Thank you, Lord, for language classes that teach me more than how to say, “I don’t understand you.”

This week’s Holiday Headlines brought to you by Home Depot:

“You can do it. We can help.”

WE GOT OUR FIRST EVER CHRISTMAS TREE THIS YEAR AND I LOVE ALL 4 FEET OF ITS ARTIFICIAL GLORY!

The Great Christmas Tree Hunt Of 2015 was a rousing affair complete with a three-hour round trip search for a real live, needle-dropping, forest-smelling Douglas Fir. We explored the nearby Naval Air Base (Atsugi), the nearby IKEA, and the (actually) nearby PX, only to realize that there just weren’t any left. I’ve always been a live tree kinda girl, but this year, the love I feel for my little baby artificial Christmas tree with the douglas fir candle burning next to it, is off the charts.

beautiful, isn’t it?

SIKE!

Here she is…

And my first ever batch of gingerbread (oakie’s fave)…

This is a year of firsts for me.

First Christmas tree of my marriage.

First artificial tree.

First time in Japan.

First time weekly blogging.

First time making gingerbread cookies.

First time HANGING CURTAINS ON OUR EVERLOVING WINDOWS.

And I couldn’t be more grateful.

::thank you Jesus for this big and wonderful world::

It’s All Japanese To Me!

* Disclaimer: This post is long. Sorry not sorry. *

Here in Japan-land (I assume the locals just call it Japan, but I’m not there yet), we’ve entered the season of Thanksgiving & Christmas—holidays that have been adopted by the Japanese post-WWII. So we’ve been exploring the surrounding area in search for the perfect Japanese gifties (is that a word? sure it is.) for our family. This quest has taken us to nooks and crannies of our local community, Sagamihara, as well as the bustling metropolis of Tokyo proper. Therefore, this post will reflect the adventures we encountered along with way with a brief detour into the Gospel Chapel service we attended on Sunday and the lack of Wi-Fi availability in our hotel.

But first, a call back to my last post:

Apparently, the library agrees with me, as I found this in the children’s section of books.

Thanksgiving Time

We had the pleasure of being invited to our future neighbors’ for a thanksgiving dinner this week and it was wonderful. I had a more Northern version of this holiday than I’m used to (there was stuffing instead of dressing and they stirred the cranberry sauce so it lost the shape of the can it came out of…or I just realized…MAYBE THEY MADE IT FROM SCRATCH…witchcraft…) and every bite was delicious. Thank you, Renz family for your hospitality and for taking a chance on the random people the Army put next to you in the duplex. We promise we’ll return the favor soon, but no promises on the cranberry sauce…

Toilet Time

If you’re thinking this is a clever title for a segment on something deep, you couldn’t be more wrong. This is literally about the various toilets I’ve encountered in Japan; so, if that’s a little bit TMI for you, feel free to skip to the next section.

Y’all.

The toilets here are mini-masterpieces of bathroom finery. Here are a few pictures of what I’ve seen while visiting different restrooms:

That’s right, there was a CONTROL PANEL with an instruction manual in one and a small child’s seat in one and almost all of them WARMLY WELCOME YOU WITH HEATED SEATS. I even saw one that made a urinating sound FOR you if you wanted so you wouldn’t have to be embarrassed. (What? I TOLD you to keep moving if this was too much!)

THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

I’m never leaving this magical place.
OR I can only be enticed to visit if you plan to have these installed in your home because, come on, heated seats.

Tidbits Time

The One About the WiFi

There is only wifi in the lobby of our hotel so we were given an Ethernet cord so we could access the hardwire internet on our computer, but this limits us to about 18 inches from the desk when using it.

TRANSLATION: We can’t watch Netflix in our bed.

Now before you go all #firstworldproblems on me, IT GETS WORSE. We were using our new phones and we saw an open wifi connection labeled JED that we were able to connect to no problem. BONUS. We used it on the computer and enjoyed bedtime Netflix-ing for all of 3 days before the owner of JED’s network got wise and PASSWORD PROTECTED IT. See? I told you it got worse…so…yeah. Now we don’t have JED anymore and we miss him and the phrase “Thanks a lot, JED!” is now common in our hotel room since the not-so-convenient pop-up wifi window always reminds us of his complete and total disconnect from us. I think I understand how the Breaking Amish people feel…

The One About IKEA

So we found an IKEA (praise!) and we’ve been readying ourselves for the new place, which we move into in T-Minus 3 days (confession time: I’ve never understood what “T-minus” means though I assume it’s about spacecraft so if anyone wants to enlighten me to its origins please see the comment section). We will have a Christmas tree for the first time EVER in our marriage and I couldn’t be more excited. Like I’m at the top level of excitement accessible to humans. So I turned to IKEA for all of my tree decorating needs and it was AWESOME. Hello white and gold themed tree! We also found killer deals on a new couch-turned-double-bed so BRING ON THE VISTORS!!!! We are ready for YOU! I mean, not yet…we still have the t-minusing action and then the moving action and then the clearing the boxes action, but then we are ready for YOU!

The One About the Church Service

We recently visited the SHA Chapel on our housing area and enjoyed a very friendly/energetic/three-songs-for-forty-minutes worship service about Thanksgiving. (praise!) And just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, there was a SURPRISE WEDDING. You read that right…there was a SURPRISE WEDDING at the end of the service. And since we were visitors, we obviously sat in the second row…and now we’re in the background of their wedding pictures for all of eternity. (praise!)

Tokyo Time

We headed to Tokyo via train bright & early Saturday morning (which in Caroline language means we left after breakfast at 10am). It was slated to take about an hour one-way so I came prepared with a backpack containing A Book Written In The Year I Was Born (Number The Stars by Lois Lowry) and an Easy Monday Crossword Puzzles book that I’ve been steadily cheating my way through since we left America. I’m happy to say that out of the 45 completed puzzles I’ve solved 10 without looking in the back…* self five. * It’s the little things…

P.S. For those aware of mine & Oakie’s & Katie’s & Ben’s 2015 Book Challenge (53 books in a year in categories like A Book Over 100 yrs. old and A Book Your Mom Loves), I’ve completed 40 and have COMPLETE CONFIDENCE that I will finish by the end of the year.

Once in Tokyo we were ready for some food and wandered around following Google Earth’s directions to a noodle shop for about an hour ending up in a ghost town of a train stop where all the businesses were closed including—you guessed it—the noodle shop. So then we winged it and ended up in an alley of restaurants (which looked exactly how you imagine that) and chose one at random. It was small (seating about 25) and the pictures on the menu outside looked good + they had noodles. Oakie is really into noodles right now; I, however, went for the item on the menu that most closely resembled my beloved Mongolian Beef from Chef Lee’s (the best Chinese food in Columbus, GA). When we ordered in confident English, the server responded to my pointing by saying, “Riba! Riba!” very urgently while pointing to his torso. He looked concerned for me. I smiled and said, “Oh yes! Ribs. I love ribs!” Don’t all Americans? He repeated the number, but I just smiled and nodded and he shrugged his shoulders and walked away. When he came back with our dishes, mine looked very much like the picture at which I pointed and I took that first bite with Mongolian expectations that were dashed on the rocks of the chalky aftertaste we’ve all come to know as LIVER.

RIBA = LIVER.

*face-palm*

But don’t worry, my husband is a saint who will trade you noodles for liver any day and eat every bite and then trade your dish back so it looks like you really did likethe RIBA that came out and then your “arigato gozaimasu” is sincere and smiley as you leave.

Moments like that always make me rethink the magnitude of the event that happened at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9 if you’d like a refresher). The confusion of the languages must’ve caused more of a blow than that short text can really tell us. Mine is a small, comical example, but acute nonetheless. The fear and frustration that must’ve been instantly instilled when they first realized they couldn’t understand each other any more had to have been earth-shattering. And don’t we feel the ripples of that all these centuries later? The tightness in my chest when I ask, “Do you speak English?” and they answer with a bewildered smile is deep-seated and REAL. They are human and are flesh and blood like me, but when we look into each other’s eyes, we know there is an invisible barrier we cannot knock down. So we smile and are kind in the other ways we know and we challenge each other to learn. And these people, y’all, these people are chart-toppers in kindness.

Times Square Time

There is a place in Tokyo that comes up any time you Google image “downtown Tokyo” that is sometimes called the Times Square Equivalent and after we wandered around the Emperor’s Palace and an 8 floor shopping mall for a few hours we walked outside to the realization that we had just stumbled onto one of the most iconic places in Tokyo: The diagonal crosswalk in the middle of town aka the Times Square Equivalent.

//www.youtube.com/get_player

I have no shame in being a tourist sometimes, especially when I have NO HOPE of blending in with the natives, ammiright?

#bangsandsunglassesarenotenough

#maybeifiwasonabikewiththreekids

#taylorswift (seriously, T-Swift, this is getting out of hand…)

So as I rode home on the sardine-packed train with my nose crushed against Oakie’s arm and another 7 humans within 6 inches of my face, I smiled. Because isn’t it all just grace that we get to see the things we do? Visit the places we do? Eat the livers we do? No journey is without its respective livers and I hope I never forget how sweet they make the noodles. And that I’m never too proud to wave that camera around in genuine awe of the diversity of His creation. Thank you, Tokyo, for the reminder of how small I am and thank you, Lord, for Your bigness that makes my smallness a delight.

BONUS VIDEO/PICTURES:

Video of me driving in Japan for the first time!

Oakie drinking tea while gazing pensively out the window (his words).

Our new car!

The island of Enoshima

And the obligatory Hello Kitty store there…

…on my mind.

The largest hawk I’ve ever seen…

OH, now I get it.

Strolling in the gardens of the shrines…

Replica of the Liberty Bell in Tokyo

Tokyo when you give Oakie the camera…

And my first Starbucks of the move.

Thank you, Lord, for Starbucks being an international company that understands “caramel macchiato” everywhere you go…

Until, next time…

Don’t Worry; It’s Japan-easy…

HEADS UP: I AM NOT “GOOD” AT BLOGGING SO PLEASE FORGIVE THE INEVITABLE FORMAT CHANGES FROM POST TO POST AS I FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO THIS THING…

As we venture into the beginning of our second full week in Japan, I’ve reflected on the feelings/opinions/expectations I’ve realised (yes, I just spelled it like I live in Britain; leave me alone) in my time here.

But first it’s time for a little game called NAME THAT JAPANESE STEREOTYPE in which I address stereotypes that I’ve encountered and attempt to prove them one way or the other. Please see my previous post if this doesn’t seem PC enough for you…

Stereotype #6: Japanese people are technologically advanced and have crazy tech inventions for everyday things. Truth. We’ve eaten at two sushi places so far and they have both had conveyor belts for sushi that just travel around the restaurant offering plates of sushi for you to grab. Then they keep track of your tab by the colour-coded (seriously, just shut up about the way I spell things…) plates (blue is 108¥; red is 230¥; etc.). It’s efficient and way cool. We also dined at a restaurant where you order from a vending machine, get a ticket which you give to the server who then brings you the food. Cool part is you’ve already paid at the vending machine so when you’re done, you just leave! And then there was THIS magic:

//www.youtube.com/get_player

Stereotype #7: The Japanese style is very modern with clean, uncluttered lines, therefore Japan is very modern with clean, uncluttered lines. False. The design elements of houses may lean in that direction, but on the whole Japan is an efficiently crowded place with loud, bold, and colourful (…let it go) designs that belie a chaotic, sometimes unfocused theme in the more rural areas. ‘Exploratory’ might be a kind way to say this. It doesn’t seem that any sections of town are ruled by the regulated design standards that you might find in areas of NYC, Boston or even downtown Columbus, GA. Don’t misunderstand me: I love it. The chaos is charming and the colours enchanting…it just shatters the Mulan village motif I had in my head. Thanks, Obama.

(disclaimer: I’ve been in ONE Japanese town so this is clearly an overgeneralisation to which I will happily find exceptions later)

Stereotype #8: Japanese people love Hello Kitty. Truth. I’ve already visited two stores dedicated to this classic Japanese character. #childhoodmemories #grabbags #taylorswift (Tay, we have to stop meeting like this…)

Stereotype #9: Japanese gardens are world-renowned so every Japanese person has a meticulously tended landscape. False. Maybe they would if they had yards (!!!), but there’s simply no room. Some people have lovely balcony gardens, but mostly there are just concrete areas for cars and then some communal parks in the centre of town. I will attempt to remedy this tragedy by having the best garden I can cultivate in 2 years and 5 square feet. (Pictures to come).

Stereotype #10: Japanese/Asian people are bad drivers. Don’t you DARE judge me for putting that one out there. You’ve been wondering when someone would put this to rest, once and for all, SINCE YOU WERE SIXTEEN!!

As a brand new driver in Japan, I feel I finally have a platform for this incredibly important topic. That’s right, I’m a card-carrying member of the Japanese Driving Club. (disclaimer: this is not a real club. or if it is, it probably has something to do with golf…golf is HUGE here.) After taking the drivers’ ed class (and flashing back to my 15-year-old self for a morning) I learned a few things.

1. Japanese pedestrians and cyclists have the right-of-way 100% of the time.

It is NEVER their fault if they get hit.

2. Japanese pedestrians and cyclists do not feel the need to obey standard precautionary practices such as looking both ways before entering an intersection, changing lanes or crossing the street.

They just raise their hand and go.

No hesitation.

No looking.

3. Japanese pedestrians and cyclists are missing the part of their brain that registers fear…ok, so that’s not true, but it’s seriously fascinating the trust they have in the drivers on the road.

4. As a driver, you must CONSTANTLY be scanning for erratic behaviour among the Pedestrian and Cyclist Community.

5. As a driver, you must experience all the fear that the Pedestrian and Cyclist Community is not BECAUSE SOMEONE HAS TO FEAR FOR THEIR LIFE IN THIS SITUATION.

Needless to say, I’ve come to believe that maybe Asian drivers aren’t so bad, they’re just scarred from a ~~terrifying~~ ~~horrifying~~ ~~PTSD-inducing~~ high-pressure driving environment in their home country. So go easy on those Asian drivers. You don’t know what they’ve been through.

This concludes our game of NAME THAT JAPANESE STEREOTYPE, but we hope you’ll join us next time. And now a word from our sponsors… HA. Sponsors. Good one.

Shout out to my sister, Sarah Ann (SA), for this next segment:

Questions From Family & Friends Who Are Wondering What Life Is Like In Japan & Finally Know Someone Who Lives There So They Can Ask Them Anything They Want

(working title)

Please feel free to ask questions about life here in the comments or to my personal email: caroline.ceg@gmail.com and I will do my best to find out the answers and share them with you here. It encourages me to explore AND satisfies those burning queries about Japan you’ve been harbouring for all these years.

Question: What is one thing you’ve seen in Japan that made you think, “Man! I can’t believe this isn’t in America yet!”?

Answer: Probably, the all-matching school uniforms with different coloured caps depending on the age. How has this cuteness escaped the Department of Education all this time?!

18 children in bright yellow hats walking to the playground?!?

Um…..yes.

Confession Time: Sometimes I hear Taylor Swift’s Welcome to New York in my head, but it’s Welcome to Japan and I’m ok with that.

Weird Fact: You are not allowed to disable the camera shutter sound on your iPhone in Japan. It’s a privacy issue. Here’s to obnoxious sounds every time I take a picture for the next two years!

I typed ‘cardboard’ in my Japanese iPhone the other day and it auto-corrected to ‘catboats’.

WHAT DON’T WE KNOW?

On a slightly more serious note, God has been abundantly gracious with me the past week and I am feeling the grace of the prayers being sent up on my behalf. A sincere thank you to those of you praying for Oakie and me as we transition. You are our family and we love you.

Welcome To Japan

We arrived in the Tokyo Airport almost two days ago.

So far, I’ve seen:
Mountains every time I look to the west and I. Love. Mountains.
Groups of small children in matching school uniforms (heart in a puddle due to the cuteness level).
Cherry trees with the promise of explosive blooming come spring.
Sushi restaurants with conveyor belts of sushi (wut.)
And pine trees trained as bonsai trees that grow in crazy shapes (which if you’ve ever seen a pine tree, you know this is a huge improvement).
But I’m getting ahead of myself.

As soon as we got off the plane I was bombarded with the reality of Japanese stereotypes.
So to start things off today, I will address a few of these.

Welcome to today’s Episode of NAME THAT JAPANESE STEREOTYPE where I will attempt to debunk 5 stereotypes I have encountered recently. (*disclaimer: If this sounds like something that will offend you, may I refer you to my OTHER blog www.iswearilovejesus.com) (*disclaimer’s disclaimer: that is not a real blog)

Stereotype #1: Japanese people wear masks all the time. Truth. I guess THIS is how they maintain their “Rabies-Free” status.

Stereotype #2: Japanese people tend to be stylish. Truth. Several outfits made me want to ask “where’d you get that, girl?! I mean…kon’ichiwa.”

Stereotype #3: Japanese people like cats. Truth. On the bus to Camp Zama I saw a building whose logo was a yellow oval with a black cartoon cat carrying another smaller black cartoon cat in its mouth. I can’t even START to imagine what that company does… #cats #japan #taylorswift (whaaa? How’d that one get in there?) Also, maybe they’re just partial, but this animal hospital looks a little discriminatory…

Stereotype #4: Japanese people have been into bangs WAY longer than Americans. Yesssssss. And they’re still incredibly popular. I’ll fit in just fine here.

Stereotype #5: Japanese people are very polite/nice. HA. Boy is THAT a load of………………………………….truth.

Y’all.

Oakie and I landed in Tokyo at 3:30pm local time knowing that we had one shot at making the 4pm bus to Camp Zama or we would be stuck there till the 7pm bus rolled through. By the time we got through customs we had 10 minutes to make the bus. We asked the officer at customs and he pointed us in the right direction which was just outside, but Step One nonetheless. Oakie then leaves to ask around and 5 minutes later I see him pass me without a glance, laughing and chatting with a lovely Asian lady he seems to have just FOUND inside. He follows her across the street and they disappear into the crowd.

By this point, I’ve been bumped into and apologized to no less than half a dozen times, we have 4 minutes to catch the bus and still no sign of Oakie. And then, just how you’d imagine it’d happen he comes sprinting through the crowd, tells me he found the bus, we’re late, but they’ll wait.

Insert a word problem math equation (looking at you Lindsay Lage):

Oakie & Caroline need to catch a bus in 3 minutes, but have 8 bags between them, 3 of which weigh over 65lbs. Considering time constraints and travel stress, what are the odds that they will catch the bus without murdering one another?

That’s right! You got it! If you add 3 kind Japanese men to the equation, each rolling one 65lb. bag; 1000 thank you’s and 1 patient bus driver, Oakie & Caroline make the bus alive, with no time to spare and a remainder of 1 good story.

Confession Time: There we were, Oakie, myself and three full-grown Japanese men, caravanning (defined in the dictionary as: a group of travelers, as merchants or pilgrims, journeying together for safety in passing through deserts, hostile territory, etc.) through the Great Unknown of Tokyo’s bus system and I was just ~~giggling~~ smiling to myself at the sheer enormity of the ridiculous kindness they were showing us.

Welcome to Japan.

God. Is. So. Cool.

Wow. Went to mass this morning at the Duomo (Also known as the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore). Now, I’m not Catholic so I just went for the experience of church in another country, going to Mass, etc. But God had some other ideas. As I’m sitting there listening to a language I cannot understand, in a country I do not live in, in a church I do not participate in, I heard God. In English. Now this might have been due in part to the fact that the program we received upon entry was in several languages including ours, but nonetheless… I was reading the verses that they had selected for today’s homily and my first thought was one of critique. Why were these verses grouped in such a way that they seemed to go together, but were actually pulled out of context so that they read a whole different message…but I kept reading…and then I opened my own Bible and compared notes, as it were. And that’s when it happened. “The I got lost in the You” as the Opera I saw on Friday night sang. I turned to 1 John 4:7-21 and began reading. The combined conviction and encouragement hit me like a Mack truck. God is love. The strains of the organ and the choir only added to the enormity of the moment. I was participating in worship 5,000 miles away from my home church (CrossPointe) and God followed me there, pursuing my heart no matter where I went. Verse 20 says, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” Conviction slammed into my heart with startling accuracy. How can I say I love God and not forgive those who have wronged me? How can I say I love God and ignore those crying out for my love? Verses 7-10 show us the Gospel. They tell us what love is and why love is. “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation (sacrifice) for our sins.”
‘All you need is love.” We’ve heard it a million times. But it’s true. Not the love of a man or a woman because they change their minds. They leave us. No. All we need is the love of the One who came up with the idea in the first place. He created love. Think about someone you love. How do you know you love them? You care about them. You care if they live or die, yes. But it’s so much more than that. And sometimes you don’t even mean for it to happen. But all of a sudden you realize you care. It matters to you. They matter to you. You care if they have a good day or a bad day. You care if they succeed or fail. You care if their eyes are happy or sad…
“[…] cast[…] all your cares upon Him, because He cares for you.” -1 Peter 5:7
He feels the same way about us. The way that we care for that certain person (or those certain people) is the way that He cares for us…only times about a million. The fact that we have the capability to care for someone or about someone is evidence enough that He feels that way about us. He created us and everything that we feel and have the ability to feel in His own image. You are cared for, LOVED, by the Creator of those very things. What more do you need? Because of this, we can love. We can share that love with those around us. In fact, we perfect the love that God shows us. Verse 12 says, “No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.” Furthermore, we don’t have to be afraid! Verses 18-19 say, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.”
So love, friend. Love with reckless abandon. There is no fear in love. Love those around you. Love your friends. Love your enemies. Love strangers.
Care. Care about those around you. Care about your friends. Care about your enemies. Care about strangers.
Don’t be afraid. Let them matter to you. And then love them with everything you have…
In a language I could not understand, in a country I do not live in, in a church I do not participate in, I heard God. Yes, God. Is. So. Cool.

|| the osbornes ||

•Caroline E. Osborne•

Author: carolineeosborne

Made In Taiwan…

Lions & Tigers & Pandas Oh My!

Interim Post

A Christmas in Japan

Ramen with Ramon

27 Things I Learned About Japan This Week

It’s All Japanese To Me!

Don’t Worry; It’s Japan-easy…

Welcome To Japan

God. Is. So. Cool.

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