Eleven days at home...

Twelve days ago, I got on a plane and left home...for home. I may have been born and raised in America, but I have two homes in this world. Here with my family is of course my home...but 12 years ago, I found another home: Japan. In total, my days in Japan still don't quite approach two years, but I quickly became what the good-natured, non-PC/not-overly-sensitive people jokingly refer to as an egg: white on the outside, yellow on the inside. I adapted to the life, the language, the culture and the beauty of Japan. I miss the food and the customer service, the way people are considerate, attentive and take pride in their work. I like that you don't get interrupted every 5 minutes by your waiter. I like how walking into a grocery store sounds like a herd of sheep or goats bleating as you hear their cries of welcome echo through each employee in the store...that I like more for the quirkiness than the actual welcomes which can be a little annoying in their constancy.

It's been 7 years from the last time I was in Japan. An old roommate posted on FaceBook that she was homesick and wanted a friend to visit, and while I wasn't even considering the possibility of going, I looked up plane tickets out of curiosity...guessing at a time frame that might work...leave a week after classes end and come back on my birthday...maybe the day before my birthday...hmm. At first I saw the prices and I was like, "Yeah, see how expensive these are...psh...." and then I saw some that were lower...then a little lower...and I started trying to message my former roommate in Japan to see if I might really consider going but couldn't get a response...a couple days later the price was lower and randomly another friend in Japan randomly messaged me to ask when I would visit Japan again...then under $800...maybe sooner than I think...then down to $720. A week after I had seen my friend's post on FaceBook, I had my ticket booked for 3 weeks out. I'M GOING TO JAPAN IN THREE WEEKS! I bought a JR Pass for the train systems, finished up teaching for the semester, planned a few things for my time there and then packed up two suitcases (well really just one and the other would come back more packed and next thing I know, my head is trying to wrap itself around the fact that I was once again, seven years later, standing in Japan.

I arrived at night, so I don't really count that first day as one of my days in Japan. My friend gave me details on how to catch a train that would get me near her home in Chiba and her cousin came with her car to pick me up from that station. We got a simple light dinner, and I went to bed. By the way, my friend in Chiba just happened to have a spare APARTMENT! So it was like I had my own place while I was there...for free. HOLY COW! 

The next morning, I caught an early train up north to Yamagata to meet my old roommate. She had heard of a Shogi Ningen Matsuri in Tendo City. I had no idea what any of that meant, but I was just there to see her and enjoy Japan. So I was along for the ride. My former roommate Tati and her other English-teaching friends picked me up at the eki (train station) and the adventure began! 

Tendo is a cute city and Shogi, as it turns out, is most easily described as the Japanese version of chess. So what happens is this little Tendo town puts on a festival (this was the 60th annual festival) of a life size chess match that reenacts an old Japanese civil war. There's a giant chess board and all these people dress up in period-costumes and sit in a chair in their square with the "chess" piece...and you watch the game played. Of course, there's no question of who will win or lose because it's a war reenactment. It was a beautiful and surprisingly hot day. Fortunately, the sakura (cherry blossoms)  were still in bloom this far north. We sat on a hill with hundreds of Japanese people and enjoyed the show. 

After that, we wandered around Tendo, eventually went into a convenience store where I got so excited about random food items I had missed...I bought a few things and then we wandered around looking for a place to eat. We settled on a tonkatsu (fried pork) place and I enjoyed ALL the food! And then we stopped by 31 (Baskin Robbins) for a little dessert! By that time I was so jetlagged exhausted. Fortunately, we just had to get in the car and drive a couple hours to Tati's house. I got ready for bed and passed out around 10pm I think. 

For my second day, Tati and I went to Sacrament meeting at the small Ishinomaki ward and then headed to Matsushima Bay. March 2011 apparently found a lot of that region wiped out by a tsunami. Thousands died. Four years later, most of the wreckage was gone and it just looked like a large, empty region. But there was one home we drove by that showed a massive amount of damage. It amazes me how Japanese people prosper and thrive in such a unstable environment with earthquakes, tsunamis and monsoons. Matsushima Bay is considered to be home of one of the most beautiful islands in Japan. We walked around the area, walked through the aquarium, and walked around looking at a few other places before heading back to Tati's area for dinner. I was happy that I got to introduce her and her friend to something new: ishiyaki ramen. Following dinner, Tati and I watched a movie before I again crashed early.

Day three, Tati and I just hung out and talked for a while, went to the mall to grab lunch (sad example of "omu rice" with beef stew but a pretty good crepe) and then I caught the bus to the train station in Sendai and headed back to Chiba. Naoko and her husband, Peter, took me out for dinner (SHABU SHABU! YUM!) and that was that.

Day four, I went to Kamakura at the recommendation of Joy, a former coworker who married a Japanese guy two years ago and now lives with him in Japan. She sent me on a bit of a hiking trek to Zeniaraibenten where you wash your money at the temple with the superstition that it will double y our money. Then I hiked up to a park to eat my "combini onigiri" and continued hiking up and around until I came back down to the road and to the giant Buddha temple. After walking around, Joy met me with her beautiful chubby baby girl, Maya. We wandered around seeing a few more sites of Kamakura before heading to her place to have dinner...and bought some delicious Japanese cake on the way! Sooooooooo good!

I had planned to go hiking with a group of foreigners on day five, but after Kamakura, I knew my feet and legs were just too sore, so I got a hold of a tour coordinator I had worked with a couple years ago. We had bonded a lot on our tour because there were SO many problems, so it was awesome to see her! We went to the EdoTokyo Museum and went to take a picture of SkyTree Tower. The wait to go up was really long, and I'm not really a tower person, so we just took our pictures and went shopping. We found a little hole in the wall restaurant for Indian/Nepali type food (curry and nan...YUM!). My first experience with Nepali food was on my mission, so I was happy to have it while visiting Japan. 

After SO MUCH WALKING, my legs were sore and swollen. Thankfully, Naoko took me to get a 30 minute massage on the sixth morning before I went to meet Eri Kaneko, one of my mission companions...granted my most difficult mission companion. She saw some of my FaceBook posts and messaged to ask why I was in Japan and we ended up being in Tokyo that weekend, so we decided to meet up at Harajuku, go to the Meiji shrine, saw a very traditional wedding party taking pictures, and then came the shopping. At first it was just at the Meiji area souvenir shop, but then we hit the main road at Harajuku and I saw it: DAISO! It's the Japanese version of the dollar store (100 yen shop) and it's incredible. American dollar stores ought to be embarassed. We ended up being there for at least an hour and I bought over 100 random items! Haha! I love love love the cute things Japan thinks of. So creative and SO FUN! Then we grabbed a late lunch or early dinner at a drinking place because there wasn't much open. And of course we couldn't leave without our Harajuku CREPES for dessert! :) As we were walking around that area, we noticed a ridiculously LONG LINE. Can you guess what they were lined up to buy? Gourmet popcorn. Japanse people are so funny about things like that. They really will line up for HOURS for anything that is new or 'limited time only'. After that I headed back to Naoko and Peter's in Chiba and had a light dinner, a lot of conversation and went to bed. 

Day seven...NIKKO! This was Peter's recommendation for a day trip. He talked about a lake, and I thought it would be nice to be around some beautiful nature, so I headed out on the the train that morning for Nikko National Park. It was such an interesting adventure to have to figure out the area and I didn't have any time to waste since I had promiesed Naoko I would try to be back for her gaijin (foreigner) cooking class that evening. So I got a couple maps of the area, grabbed the local bus and prayed I didn't get lost. It was about a $10 bus ride to get to a place there called Chuzenji. Well known for its onsen (hot spring), but I focused on the gorgeous lake, sakura (cherry blossoms), a shrine and the beautiful Kegon waterfall. I wasnted to eat, but time was short and the place that looked the best had a long line outside...sigh. So I bought a 'korokke' to munch, did a little shopping, and caught the bus back down. As I was shopping, I was reminded of the three monkeys...hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil...I asked where they were and thought maybe I had just enough time to make it to that shrine before my 4pm train. I caught the bus, got off at the nearest stop to Toshogu shrine, and frantically searched. My gps failed me and took me off course so by the time I DID find it, I didn't have time to go inside. Sigh. I rushed to the eki (train station), taking whatever pictures I could along the way and was able to make my train. PHEW! 

The cooking class was fun, but I was exhausted and it went far too long. The woman teaching the class had the WORST English and Naoko is perfectly fluent, but since she's just part time, she had to hesitate and play naive sometimes. The class was only supposed to be 2 hours and went for 2.5, but then Naoko stayed to clean because that's what is expected in Japan...even though she only got paid for the original two hours. She sent me home early and got home after 10pm. Poor Naoko! 

Day eight was a different experiene. I went off to find a volleyball game put on by a gaijin club. I play volleyball a lot at home, so I wanted to at least play once while I was gone. It turned out to be rather competitive and really fun. I didn't play as well as I would have liked, but still fun. :) There was a cute Filipino guy, but short of course. Had that confident athletisism. If I were to live in that area, I'd definitely play with them all the time, but it costs money. :/ And I wouldn't get to play nearly as often as I get to play here. Sigh. But Japan is good to me. Easier to fine steadier jobs there, I think, too. After the game, I met up with Naoko and Vincent in Ginza and walked around. Such a pretty area. Lots of high end shopping. Naoko and I went off for dinner, followed by another long evening of great conversation with them. 

Day nine was Sunday again, so I walked to the church which was fortunately close. They have a new beautiful big building, a big ward, lots of families and littel babies...someone asked if I was a new sister missionary. Haha :) As soon as I sat down, I looked around and was shocked to see a familiar face: Seiji! I knew him when I was 19!!! Oh my goodness! We were language partners back when I was just beginning to learn Japanese. He's married with three little kiddies now. It was so good to see a familiar face. Unfortunately his wife wasn't there, so I didn't get to meet her and it would have been inappropriate for us to sit together at church since she wasn't there, but we talked for a few minutes after Sacrament and then I headed out to meet Peter and Naoko to go to their former coworker's home for lunch. I had mixed feelings about whether I should stay and visit at the ward, but I felt a little awkward since I didn't know anyone but Seiji. I hope it wasn't a prompting to stay... :/ It was good to meet with Naoko's former coworker and other coworkers, though a bit boring. But the head of their department was there and Peter really wanted me to meet her while I was in town because they are hoping I will move back to Japan and work with them. :) Just as we were saying our goodbyes, there was an EARTHQUAKE! It was a pretty good sized one and the granny's apartment was on the 13th floor so it was even scarier!!! It wasn't really horrible, but gave us a good shake and then for some reason the lock of the door wouldn't open. Luckily she had a second exit, so we were able to get out. 

After we got back to Naoko's area, we picked up a few things and met Peter at her parents' home for YAKINIKU dinner! YUM! And we picked out a fantastic chocolate cake and split the cost because it was a bit pricy, but Naoko kept eyeing it, and they were being MORE than generous with me, so I kept looking for things I could do to say thank you. After dinner, we played a card game rather similar to Phase 10. I started well, but didn't end up well. I started feeling rather tired, so we headed back home, but then Peter and I got into a rather lengthy political discussion. He doesn't think Obama is all that bad...hmmm...

Day ten was my last FULL day in Japan, so Naoko and I went shopping for random things and had a Hawaiian fusion dinner with an AMAZING Hawaiian pancake for dessert! Fat cakie pancake covered in peanut-butter-flavored shipping cream, pineapple, coconut milk and caramel! SO GOOD! I was up late that night trying to see if I could fit everything in my suitcases and carry-ons or if I would need to ship anything. I abandoned a pair of hiking shoes because I felt they had betrayed me (my feet were so unbelievably sore) and it created more room for my souvenirs! :) And amazingly enough, I managed to fit everything! 

Tuesday was my eleventh and last day. Naoko took me for a haircut which included a lovely hair wash and massage. :) We were going to try to get some glasses made for me at this cool new store JINS. They do an eye exam and create your glasses in less than an hour for really cheap! Unfortunately, they were booked up and I would have missed my train to the airport, so we just picked up a simple lunch (tonkatsu and korokke) and headed home to finish things up before her sweet cousin came to pick us up and take us to the eki. Peter and Naoko were kind enough to rush me up with my suitcases so I wouldn't miss my train. Such a blessing to know those two!!! They made my spontaneous trip to Japan so smooth and simple! I hesitate to leave my family and social life here, but sometimes I wonder if I'm meant to live in Japan. It would be the smart career move, I think. But I love being close to my parents and siblings and nieces and nephews...I mean maybe I would be the cool aunt that they get to visit in Japan...but...I don't know. I just want to find an awesome man to spend my life with...have a kid or two...I don't want to move to Japan and be that one single old lady. I don't want to be anywhere and be that spinster. Sigh...... :)

Anyway, so one of the MOST AWESOME things about my eleven days is that every day was a lot like paradise. Perfect spring weather. Hot and sunny but with a cool breeze...no real rain and generally not even cloudy. Even Peter commented on how the weather had been rainy just before I came and then it was perfect pretty much every day. One day it rained just a smidge, but it was more like mist and quickly passed. So blessed! I had a long flight home and didn't sleep well. Kenneth was there to pick me up and help me with my bags. We decided to go to volleyball. Randomly all our Lehi volleyball friends showed up, which included Jana and her husband. It really is hard for me not to be bothered by Kenneth's attachment to her. He's been a little better about it the last couple times I've been there, but I feel that if I weren't there, he'd just go back to being all about her. What woman wants that? What woman feels loved by a man who has other womnan like that in his life? Anyway, this isn't about THAT, this is about my amazing eleven days at home. I love Japan. The food, the language, the people, the beauty in the culture. Of course there are always pros and cons...which the cons are what causes me to hesitate about marrying into that culture...but really it has been a part of me and a blessing in my life. However, I always feel I have so so so much to improve for my Japanese. I feel like my comprehension and vocabulary could be a LOT better. Maybe I'll move back. Maybe it's the best place for me in this world that causes me to feel so lonely. I don't care where I am, as long as I am happy. And I know that happiness is my responsibility and I do a pretty good job. But the thought of never getting married...tarnishes the lust for life I'm trying to cultivate. 

Another possibility...is maybe there is a third home in this world for me. Maybe I need to do a little more exploring. :) I feel rather at home in Latin and Polynesian environments...hmmm...where to next?!