Akashi and Awajishima with the Nakashimas

This weekend we had the pleasure of spending some time with one of my coworkers at Himeji High School and her husband. Audrey and I took the special rapid train a couple of stops down the line to a city called Akashi. There Izumi and her husband Toshi where anxiously awaiting our arrival. From the train station we went straight to the base of the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge which happens to be the longest suspension bridge in the WORLD. Its center span measures 1,991 meters which is 710 meters longer than the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Needless to say it was breathtaking! We were able to take an elevator up to an observation deck to take some pictures and get a small sense of the overwhelming size of this bridge. After we took a couple photos and walked around for a bit we decided to get back into the car and drive across the bridge to Awajishima, which is the island that this bridge connects too. Once on the Island we stopped for lunch. The restaurant that we ate at was unlike anything we had ever experienced. There was no counter or workers to take your order, instead there was a massive vending machine with pictures of what you cold eat. I stared in awe as 10 or 15 people funneled up to the machine, put there money in, pressed a button and collected the ticket it spit out and their change. Simple enough right... So I followed suite... checked what Audrey and I wanted, and double checked because one false button push and who knows what we would be eating for lunch that day. Thankfully we both wanted curry and rice so I pushed the button and with a little help from Izumi I was able to order two, and viola, out popped the change and two tickets. We then proceeded to take the tickets up to a counter where we waited for about 3 minutes and out came our food. Not exactly Burger King, but a brilliant concept none the less. After lunch and an ice cream cone we headed into the country side to visit a place that was supposed to have miles of beautiful flowers planted in wonderful patterns. The key word in that sentence is "supposed". When we got there we quickly realized that there were no flowers to be seen... it was the wrong time of the year. We decided not to let that minor detail stop us, so we walked around for a bit, enjoying the country side and good company. Well that was also short lived because it started to rain. So it was off to plan B. There is a museum on the other side of the Island that serves as a memorial to the The Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995. The epicenter of this earthquake was was located on the northern end of the island. As we entered the museum we were quickly humbled by the magnitude of this disaster. There were TVs showing news footage from that day. We saw homes and businesses on fire, freeways collapsed, buildings in a heap of rubbish and people running around screaming as they searched for friends and family. It was hard to wrap our minds around some of the statistics. 7.4 on the Japanese Richter scale, approximately 6,434 people dead, 10 trillion yen in damages, 200,000 buildings collapsed, 1km of the express way collapsed, and 120 of the 150 quays in the port of Kobe were destroyed. It is actually in the Guinness World Book of Records as "the costliest natural disaster to befall any one country." Wow, talk about surreal... my heart was in my throat the whole time we were in the museum. As we continued through we saw parts of the earth that had lifted and separated. There is a still a house that was preserved. The fault line actually ran within 5 feet of the home. The kitchen has been preserved and looked the same as it did after the earthquake that day. There were broken plates and cups everywhere, the chairs had fallen over, appliances had fallen off the counter... it was intense. There was a wall out side of the house that had been cracked and parts had lifted and separated. It really painted a clear picture as to how powerful this earthquake really was. All in all it was a great, yet very thought provoking experience. I have a new appreciation for Kobe and the Japanese people as they have learned so much from this horrible tragedy. Even though they experienced this tough time they have now better equipped themselves for future disasters and rebuilt Kobe so that it is now bigger and better than ever. To think that almost 14 years ago the city was in shambles and now it is once again a flourishing epicenter of Japanese life. So after spending an hour or so at the museum we were pretty emotionally drained, so we decided to head back to the main land and get ready for dinner. When we arrived at the Nakashimas apartment we were mesmerized by the view from their 9th floor balcony. We were not even 200 yards from the sea and we had a perfect view of the bridge. Izumi and Toshi needed to run to the store really quick so they recommend that we take a walk on the beach before dinner. So Audrey and I, being the beach lovers that we are, jumped at that proposition. It was a bit cold but we didn't mind. We walked around for about 45 minutes and when it started getting dark we headed back up to the apartment. There we were greeted by a huge platter of sushi (see picture below). There were at least 50 pieces of sushi and only 4 of us to eat it. Now if there is one food that Audrey and I were not sold on before coming to Japan it was sushi. Neither of us were really big seafood fans... especially seafood that had not been cooked. Over these past couple of months our affinity for sushi has grown exponentially. So when I saw this platter of fresh deliciousness sitting in front of me all I could think was "JACKPOT"! We had no idea what kind of fish we were eating most of the time but it was mecha oishii (very delicious). It was so fresh I swear I saw one of the shrimp still moving as it lay there on its bed of rice. After we had stuffed ourselves with sushi we had some cake, munched on some chocolate and called it a night. The Nakashimas rode the train back to Akashi with us and showed us which train to get on to get home and off we went. It was a wonderful day, with wonderful people. We feel so blessed to have these opportunities to enjoy Japan with such wonderful friends. We hope this finds you doing well in your neck of the woods. We miss you and love you.

The view from the observation deck on the bridge
There were supposed to be flowers around here somewhere
It was so quiet and peaceful
A wall that was cracked and broken in the earthquake
You can see how the earth moved and shifted that day
The longest suspension bridge in the world!
Lovers in Japan
Dinner!
New friends

Koko-en Fall

Last Friday Audrey and I decided to go to Koko-en for a date night. The garden usually closes around 5 but they have been staying open late for momiji viewing. Momiji (Japanese Maple) are Audrey's favorite trees and they are especially stunning during the fall season. As we entered the garden we were overwhelmed by the beauty that surrounded us. There were spot lights on many of the trees which beautifully illuminated the intense reds and oranges. It was so nice to enjoy the peace and quite and become immersed in Gods magnificent creation. We feel so blessed to have each other and to be able to experience all of these wonderful adventures together. If you want to see more pictures from Koko-en please visit our Shutterfly page where there is an album full of pictures from the garden.

Audrey and I surrounded by momiji

And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground-- trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. Genesis 2:9(a)

It was majestic in beauty, with its spreading boughs, for its roots went down to abundant waters. Ezekiel 31:7

Momiji close up

Lovers in Japan

WHOOPIE PIES

Audrey and I got a wonderful surprise the other day. My mom knows how much we love making whoopie... pies that is. She sent a care package with everything we need for one of our favorite treats. We just had one little problem... our oven. Its kind of a hybrid microwave/oven. By the looks of it its about 30 years old and all of the buttons and nobs are in Japanese so it took us the longest time to even figure out how to use the microwave function. So after living here for three months we had just the excuse we needed to fire up the oven. So on Sunday afternoon it was raining so we put on a movie and Audrey got started on our whoopie pies. When she put the first batch in she quickly realized that this was going to be quite a task with our "easy bake" oven.  The first problem was that it was so small she could only bake one whoopie pie at a time. Then she quickly realized that one whoopie pie takes 20 minutes to bake, which is much longer than the 5 minutes it takes to bake 4 in our oven back home. So her whoopie pie baking ended up taking about 3 hours. But let me tell you... it was worth the wait! They were a great snack for a cold and rainy Sunday evening. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Hey... keep your eyes on your own whoopie pie!
Henderson and Henderson give them two thumbs up!
This picture speaks for itself...

Shizutani School and Bizen City

Another week come and gone and we are left worn out and feeling blessed to have such wonderful friends. This weekend five students from my Shogai class took us away for another day trip. This time we had the pleasure of going to Bizen, which is in the Okayama prefecture. They picked us up at 9 am and we proceeded to follow the same routine as our last trip. Audrey in one car and me in another. While we love spending time with each other it is a great opportunity for us to get to know these lovely people better and at the same time allow them to practice their English in a more intimate setting. The drive to Bizen took about an hour and a half but time flew. Audrey enjoyed getting to know a few of my students and I had the privilege of helping another student write a letter to her pen pal back in America. Our first destination was the Shizutani School. Its primary claim to fame is that it was the oldest free public school in the world as construction began back in 1670. It was a Confucian school, dedicated to family, respect for elders and superiors, and discipline. The school was built to educate the children of the commoners in the province -- not just the children of the samurai class. Audrey and I were amazed by the beauty and history of this place. It is located out in the country side so it is very quite and peaceful. As we walked around I could not help but think of the students that roamed this area over the past 330 or so years. The auditorium is still in immaculate condition. Their pride in craftsmanship is evident throughout the many buildings we were able to tour. Just beyond the main school campus there is a newer building that was built as a museum for the school. They had everything from pictures of former head masters to beautiful calligraphy that had been written here hundreds of years ago. I really enjoyed seeing drawings of what it was probably like back in its glory days. Students filling the auditorium on their tatami mats sitting quietly and respectfully listening to their teachers. It left me in awe of the rich history of this place. The beauty of the school buildings were easily matched by the beauty of the fall colors that surrounded us. After walking around for a couple of hours we decided to go grab some lunch and then meander through the main streets of Bizen. Little did we know, Bizen is a famous hub of pottery here in Japan, and throughout the world. Bizen pottery is an unglazed, high-fired stoneware.  The firing takes place at high temperatures with red pine wood and gives the pieces a natural wild appearance, with red-glaze streaks, charcoal-like patches or iridescent blue-green patterns. By now our senses were on overload. These pieces were incredibly beautiful and very expensive. Due to the nature of the firing no piece is the same. Since they do not use glazes, the potter doesn't know the exact color of the piece until they are removed from the kiln. It was so nice to have our Japanese "tour guides" with us as they were able to show us places we never would have been able to see on our own. The first shop we went into actually let us go into the back and look around the kilns as they explained the firing process. Then my students took us off the beaten path into a nearby neighborhood. They randomly rang a door bell and we were welcomed into the home of a man who we later found out was considered a "Living National Treasure". He and his wife had a small room next to the entrance of their home that was filled with his pottery. It was INCREDIBLE! Many of his pieces were for sale but I couldn't quite bring my self to spend our whole years salary on a vase. After thanking him numerous times for allowing us to view his work we headed back to the main street and into a couple more shops. Only to be even more amazed by the beauty of these one of a kind pieces. By this time it was already 5 p.m. and our friends were ready to head home. Audrey and I didn't mind one bit as we were pretty worn out from a day of new experiences with wonderful friends.

The entrance to the school
The main auditorium
Inside the auditorium
Momiji (Japanese maple)Lovers in Japan
Kiln in Bizen
Inside of a kiln

Shutterfly Account

Hey everyone... we wanted to set up a new website where you can check out some of the amazing pictures we have taken since being here in Himeji.  We hate to flood our blog with too many pictures so now you can see some that may not have made the cut.  We hope you enjoy! Click here

Costco and Osaka

Another wonderful weekend come and gone. On Friday night we had the pleasure of going to our pastors house for dinner with his family. We had a wonderful time filled with laughter, spiritual conversations and delicious food. They are truly the sweetest people we have ever met and they constantly remind us that they want to act as a surrogate family for us while we are over here. Not even knowing it, Mrs. Haruta fixed many of Audrey's favorite foods for dinner that night. We started with a macaroni and cheese and salad, which was followed by soup, then chicken Parmesan, and finished off with cheese cake and Reece's peanut butter cups. It was easily one of the best nights we have had since we have arrived. We feel truly blessed to be a part of their church and family. The next morning we got up and got ready for a day of traveling. It was our friend Taube's birthday and she wanted Mexican food for her birthday dinner. Unfortunately, the closest Mexican food restaurant is an hour and fifteen minutes away in Osaka. When we heard Mexican food we jumped at the opportunity as that was a staple of our diet in Arizona and we were going through withdrawals since we have been here. To go from eating Chipotle on a weekly basis for 3 years straight to not being able to find a Mexican food restaurant or even a single flour tortilla in the grocery store can cause a man to break out into cold sweats! We have been able to find many of our favorite foods here in Japan, but Mexican food is not one of them. We figured that since we were going to Osaka we might as well leave early and stop at Costco in Amagasaki on the way. I know what you are thinking... Costco... in Japan?! Ohh yes... its true folks and its only about an hour away! Our Australian friends told us that there is a free shuttle from the train station in Amagasaki to a mall that is right next to Costco. The only catch was that you have to buy something at the mall and show the driver your receipt or you cant get on the shuttle back to the train station. It has something to do with the shuttle being paid for by the mall and they didn't want people just taking it to Costco. So when I heard the word FREE I was all about this shuttle. So we had it all planned out... take the train to Amagasaki, walk through the mall, then to Costco, do our shopping at Costco and then stop in at the mall for a cup of coffee or something and then hop back on the shuttle to the station and then to Osaka. Sounds easy enough right?! So we had an enjoyable train ride to Amagasaki, caught the shuttle walked through the mall out the side exit and straight into Costco. When we got in I almost turned around and walked back out. I seriously felt like I was at Walmart on black Friday... there were people everywhere! It took about 5 minutes just to get from the front door to the electronics section... it was pure madness. And after living here for 3 months I had come to the conclusion that Japanese people are the most considerate people in the planet... well not at Costco... it was every man for himself. So after about 2 hours of weaving this giant cart though the masses and being battered and bruised from elbows and carts slamming into us we had enough. We got the necessities to last us for a couple of months and we were ready to sit down for a giant slice of pizza and drink. Standing in line for food took another 20 minutes and staring at the sign, with all of the same foods, just written in Japanese kind of makes you feel like you are in a strange alternate reality. I mean the Costco was set up exactly the same at it is in the states, just filled with shorter people and some other random Asian foods... it kind of plays tricks with your mind. You constantly find yourself thinking "where am I." After finishing our lunch it was back to the mall for our coffee and then back on the shuttle. Well instead of coffee we found a Baskin Robbins that sells crapes... and my wife's love for crapes always trumps coffee. So we had our treat and headed for the shuttle. After waiting in line we flashed our receipt and hopped on the shuttle back to the station. For some reason I had a strange feeling about it and when we made a left out of the mall instead of a right. At first I thought we were taking a different way back, but when we continued driving north when the train station was south I knew we were in trouble. About 20 minutes later we stoped at a train station... unfortunately we were at a completely different train station. I proceeded to try to explain to the driver that we needed to go to the JR station in Amagaski and he very quickly and forcefully told us "NO" and then pointed to get off the shuttle. I then tried to ask if he could take us back to the mall and got an even more forceful answer and he pointed out the door. So I motioned for Audrey and we headed off the shuttle in hopes of finding our way. As we approached the station we realized that we were no longer in Amagasaki but in a neighboring city and at a completely different rail line. As we stared at the destinations on the railway map above the ticket machine we quickly found out that this train line doesn't go to Osaka... or back to Himeji. Well Crap! So Audrey found a cute little man that works for the station and asked him about Osaka... he proceeded to take our money and buy us a ticket for the train we needed to be on. It turns out that this station has a stop in Umeda... which is in essence part of Osaka station. As we stood on the platform waiting for a train that we were not sure about and jabbering back and forth about what to do next a sweet young Japanese girl comes over and in perfect English say "can I help you with something?" Thank you JESUS! We explained what happened and she laughed at us but then explained that we needed to take this next train to the 5th stop and then explained where to go from there to get to the Osaka JR station. So we ended up taking a little detour, but found our way to Osaka. When we got there it was 5:30 in the evening and dinner wasn't until 7:30 so we walked around downtown Osaka for a couple of hours. It was incredible, huge building after huge building, bright lights and people everywhere! Audrey said it reminded her of New York. We went from store to store window shopping and found our way to the restaurant around 7:15. We had actually had to order our food a week in advance because we had a party of 30 people so when we got seated we sat around and chatted with friends at our table. Around 8:30 Audrey got her chicken burrito and I had some chips and salsa to munch on while I waited patiently for mine. I figured it would be out soon since we had ordered it a week ago you would think the least they could do was have it partially ready for us when we got there. Well that wasn't quite the case and needless to say when my food came out at 9:30 I was pretty annoyed. Then I took a bite of my taco and it was COLD! One of my biggest pet peeves is cold food that is supposed to hot... or at this point I would have been okay with it being warm... but of course it was cold. So I went for the enchilada... cold too! Now I was not happy. I'm not sure how they even called it an enchilada because it tasted more like a giant piece of ravioli. It was a flour tortilla with cheese in the middle and tomato sauce on top. But seeing how it was already 9:30 and I figured I would just be grateful that I had food to eat. Also I knew if I wanted to complain I wouldn't be able too because they wouldn't be able to understand a word I said. Which may have been a good thing! After I finished up my dinner we hung out until about 10:30 and we figured that we should head home because we had a hour and 15 minute train ride ahead of us. So we said our goodbyes, took the subway to the JR station and hoped on a train back to Himeji. For those of you who have not ridden a train in Japan there are many different types of trains and many different stations (as we learned first hand). One thing that is good to know is the speed of the train. For instance we took a "super rapid" train from Himeji to Amagasaki which took about 50 minutes, and that same train to Osaka takes about an hour and 15 minutes. It is called a super rapid because it only stops at the major cities and not all of the smaller cities in between so you get there quicker than a "local train". So to Osaka its only about 5 stops on the super rapid. So we get on the "super rapid" to come home and find a seat and get out a book for our trip home. So we are cruising along with only a couple of stops and we are making pretty good time when all of the sudden we stop at a station, people get on and people get off and then we take off again only to stop at the next station... and the next... and the next. So I'm a bit confused because we had already stopped way more than we stopped on our way to Amagasaki and I couldn't figure out why. Then I saw a sign that was flashing and scrolling where our next stop would be and it said " you are riding a local train bound for Himeji" WHAT!!! When we got on it said "super rapid" not local. It turns out that our train turned into a "local train" after Kobe so we stopped about 30 times on our way home. Which is understandable if people are getting on and off but by this time it was already 12:30 and no one was getting on, and no one was getting off! I was ticked... really... every stop... you have got to be kidding me. So long story short we got home that night at 1:00 after our 1 hour train ride turned into a 2 and a half hour train ride. Followed by a 20 minute bike ride from the station to our apartment. All in all it was a great experience and we can look back and laugh about our adventures that day. I guess we can chalk it up to living in a foreign country! Sorry for such a long blog this weekend. We hope all is going well in your neck of the woods. We love and miss you all!

Our Japanese family... the Haruta's and our translator at church Mr. Enemoto
The JR train station in Amagasaki
This picture speaks for itself

Hot dog and a drink- 260 yen

Slice of pizza- 300 yen

Chicken bake- 400 yen

Eating at Costco in Japan.... Priceless!

Pure Ecstasy!
Osaka
Giant Crab
Me after my first Mexican food experience in Japan was a major let down

Lovers in Japan

Mt. Shosha

The morning after our Halloween party we were up bright and early for a trip to Mt. Shosha with Audrey's Shogai students. We had been looking forward to this trip for some time as Mt. Shosha is one of the big "things to do" in Himeji. If you have seen the Tom Cruise movie "The Last Samurai" then you have seen some of the temples at the top of this mountain. Our students love telling us how Tom Cruise was here and how some of them actually caught a glimpse of him. There are two ways up the mountain. You can either climb it, which takes about 30 minutes or you can take the rope way. After a long Halloween evening we went for the rope way. The rope way drops us off about 3/4 of the way up the mountain so we got to hike the rest of it with Audrey's students. There were about 20 of us all together and we enjoyed the beautiful scenery, the cool weather and of course the wonderful company. They showed us all of the beautiful buildings, shrines and other amazing traditional architecture. When we got to the spot where parts of the movie was filmed we stopped for a break and to have a picnic lunch. Audrey and I brought our old faithful PB and J but we were also bombarded with tons of Japanese "picnic" food to share as well. After lunch we played a rousing game of bingo. It lasted for about 30 minutes as we had to play until everyone got a "bingo". One of Audrey's students had even brought enough prizes for everyone so we all won something whether we finished 1st or 20th! After lunch and Bingo we finished hiking around the top of the mountain. We took a bunch of wonderful pictures and had a fantastic time with these beautiful people. We were a little sad that the leaves had not changed colors as much as we had hoped so Audrey and I are planning a return visit when it gets a little cooler so we can enjoy more of the fall colors at their best. We hope all is well in your neck of the woods. We miss and love you all!

The view from the rope way!

Does this look familiar? Well it should if you have seen "The Last Samurai"
Me and the Ladies!
Me and my lovely lady:)
What a beautiful day!
I love the architecture...
I guess some important people are buried here.

Halloween!

Halloween this year was quite an experience. It is not a very popular holiday here in Japan but it has begun catching on in the past couple of years. One of the traditions that we have in our apartment complex is to have a Halloween party for the children in our neighborhood. We spent the whole previous week decorating and preparing games and activities for the children to participate in on Halloween night. This included a face painting, Halloween games and of course a haunted house. Audrey signed up for face painting duty while some of our friends here at Shirasagi residence thought it would be fun for me to be a part of the haunted house. For those of you who know me understand why I may face this with some opposition. I have been known to freak out like a little school girl during scary movies and the couple of times I went to haunted houses while in high school. Just thinking of being a part of the haunted house gave me the chills as I was having flashbacks of a time that I ran screaming through a haunted house, so out of control that I actually squeezed through a small crack that no one was supposed to go through. This led to the "actors" actually coming out of character to tell me that I couldn't go that way... yeah right... like I was really going to listen to some guy with a chain saw tell me to come back. So as I hesitantly agreed, I could only hope to be a friendly part of this haunted house as I didn't want these poor naive Japanese children to have nightmares of Americans that are trying to eat them. So on Friday afternoon I got my haunted house assignment... I was going to be a head on a platter! Not exactly the most comfortable job as I had to sit on the floor with my head between two tables and poked through a platter... but it could have been worse. A couple of times I almost suffered a collapsed esophagus as the children would get scared and push one of the tables as they would run away... which then smashed my throat between the two tables. The first couple of children were not to phased by the haunted house, but as the night went on and the younger children came through the laughter began turning to tears. So fighting back the flashbacks I became the friendly head on a platter... always smiling and saying hello to the children. It may have not been exactly what we had planned but the children left with a smile on their faces rather than being scarred for life! After the 50 or so children finished with their games and haunted house they all had an opportunity to go trick or treating at some of our apartments. I think that was Audrey's favorite part as she got to pass out candy to these adorable little Japanese kids... and sneak a couple pieces for herself at the same time. All in all it was an enjoyable night. The kids seemed to have a wonderful time and we were happy to be a part of it.How do you say "Trick or Treat" in Japanese?
Audrey trying to eat one of our American friends because she is dressed up like onigiri... one of Audrey's favorite Japanese foods.

Little Japanese cuties
Everyone loves face painting
Old man Samurai and his beautiful wife the witch

If you are wondering what my head will look like in 30 years... here is a sneak peak!