Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
What, no turkey?
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you in the U.S. No turkey for us this year. One of Yoko's relatives is married to an American, and they had a Thanksgiving party on Sunday, but we weren't able to go. That will be the closest we get to turkey.
All is going well. Things have been pretty quiet since our last posting. Yoko is back on the job search since a big source of income, taking care of Grandma, is now gone. We sure miss having her around. She was a joy to be with, and a good source of Japanese practice for Erik.
The last posting had a link to sumo. If you weren't able to watch the matches, we have provided a link to the last bout of the most recent tournament. It was a winner-take-all match and quite a match it was. The Grand Champion vs an up-and-comer. Earlier in the tournament the up-and-comer beat the Grand Champion.
Check out what and were we have eaten recently (to the right). We are blessed with a variety of good food. Needless to say, we are not going hungry.
All is going well. Things have been pretty quiet since our last posting. Yoko is back on the job search since a big source of income, taking care of Grandma, is now gone. We sure miss having her around. She was a joy to be with, and a good source of Japanese practice for Erik.
The last posting had a link to sumo. If you weren't able to watch the matches, we have provided a link to the last bout of the most recent tournament. It was a winner-take-all match and quite a match it was. The Grand Champion vs an up-and-comer. Earlier in the tournament the up-and-comer beat the Grand Champion.
Check out what and were we have eaten recently (to the right). We are blessed with a variety of good food. Needless to say, we are not going hungry.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
A Hard Week
Since our last blog post Yoko's grandma passed away. Last Wednesday morning , 11/12, she had a heart attack around 6:30 am and passed away around 8:00 am. She was 88. We are thankful that she did not have a time of prolonged suffering, but we are sad that we only had one week with her living with us. Since her death we have been helping Yoko's mom with all that surrounds a person's death here in Japan. The funeral was yesterday.
This was Erik's first funeral in Japan, and it was quite a cultural experience for him. Upon grandma dying, she was taken to her home where she remained until Tuesday afternoon. She was at home so friends and family could come by and see her. Tuesday she was taken to the funeral home, and there was a ceremony and dinner that evening. Wednesday morning, there was another ceremony. After the ceremony, she was taken to a crematorium. While she was being cremated, all those in attendance had lunch. Once the cremation was finished, in pairs using long chopsticks, we picked up a bone fragment and placed it in a ceramic jar. The jar was then filled with the remaining bones and ashes. It is kept for 49 days, at that time another ceremony will take place where the jar is placed in the grave site.
The ceremonies Tuesday night and Wednesday morning were basically the same. A Buddhist priest chanted for about 40 minutes. While he chanted, those in attendance came forward and burned incense for Grandma. Instead of burning incense, we placed white flowers demonstrating that we are not Buddhist. At Wednesday's ceremony, Yoko's mom talked about Grandma, but she was the only one who got to say anything. It is definitely a solemn time. The only funerals Erik has been to were for family in the States, and they had an element of joy to them knowing that the family member was with the Lord. In all, it was quite an experience for Erik.
This was Erik's first funeral in Japan, and it was quite a cultural experience for him. Upon grandma dying, she was taken to her home where she remained until Tuesday afternoon. She was at home so friends and family could come by and see her. Tuesday she was taken to the funeral home, and there was a ceremony and dinner that evening. Wednesday morning, there was another ceremony. After the ceremony, she was taken to a crematorium. While she was being cremated, all those in attendance had lunch. Once the cremation was finished, in pairs using long chopsticks, we picked up a bone fragment and placed it in a ceramic jar. The jar was then filled with the remaining bones and ashes. It is kept for 49 days, at that time another ceremony will take place where the jar is placed in the grave site.
The ceremonies Tuesday night and Wednesday morning were basically the same. A Buddhist priest chanted for about 40 minutes. While he chanted, those in attendance came forward and burned incense for Grandma. Instead of burning incense, we placed white flowers demonstrating that we are not Buddhist. At Wednesday's ceremony, Yoko's mom talked about Grandma, but she was the only one who got to say anything. It is definitely a solemn time. The only funerals Erik has been to were for family in the States, and they had an element of joy to them knowing that the family member was with the Lord. In all, it was quite an experience for Erik.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
"You look cute today. What happened?"
The title of today's blog entry are loving words from Yoko to Erik. Good thing her love for him is not based on his looks or else he still would be single.
We have settled into life with Grandma living with us. At times, Erik is the only one at home with her. Needless to say, communication is a real challenge. Yoko is doing a great job in caring for Grandma. Her biggest challenge is cooking "right" in Grandma's eyes. Since Erik will eat just about anything, Yoko hasn't had to worry about getting things "right".
Right now a sumo tournament is taking place. If you are interested you can watch it on-line. It starts at 4:00 pm Japan time; that's 11 pm PST, 12 am in AZ and 2 am EST.
We have enjoyed hearing from many of you recently. Keep in touch.
Name this fruit and win a prize.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Chchchchchchanges
Job changes, living arrangement changes, and hair style changes, all we can say is that the Lord thankfully remains the same. The last week saw an assortment of changes for us. Yoko no longer works at the photo development shop. She dropped that job in order to teach English at a cram school and to work the front desk at a conversational English school. Both of these jobs are part time and in the evening which gives her the time she needs to take care of her grandma during the day.
Grandma is now living with us. She moved in with us yesterday because her home is cold during the winter, and we will not have to travel in the winter weather to see her.
Erik has a new hair style; this is the forth is his adult life. While in the U.S., Yoko wanted Erik to change his hair; however, he politely refused and instead, agreed that Yoko could choose how his hair is cut while in Japan. So, if you would like to see how stylish Erik is now, click on the link above.
On top of all these changes, we also meet some relatives of Yoko's for the first time. We met Yoko's dad's two sisters and some of their family at a ceremony for Yoko's dad's aunt who passed away a year ago. This is a special ceremony conducted at the one year anniversary of some one's death. The aunt who died did not have any children, so her nieces and nephew took it upon themselves to take care of her arrangements once she died. It was great to meet some more of the family. We had a real nice time with them. One of the highlights is that we ate fugu and lived.
Grandma is now living with us. She moved in with us yesterday because her home is cold during the winter, and we will not have to travel in the winter weather to see her.
Erik has a new hair style; this is the forth is his adult life. While in the U.S., Yoko wanted Erik to change his hair; however, he politely refused and instead, agreed that Yoko could choose how his hair is cut while in Japan. So, if you would like to see how stylish Erik is now, click on the link above.
On top of all these changes, we also meet some relatives of Yoko's for the first time. We met Yoko's dad's two sisters and some of their family at a ceremony for Yoko's dad's aunt who passed away a year ago. This is a special ceremony conducted at the one year anniversary of some one's death. The aunt who died did not have any children, so her nieces and nephew took it upon themselves to take care of her arrangements once she died. It was great to meet some more of the family. We had a real nice time with them. One of the highlights is that we ate fugu and lived.
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