A Run Around Rokko Island

Most people who live on Rokko Island have a love-hate relationship with it.

I love that my kids are safe and can move around pretty independently.  I love that we have used our bikes as our main mode of transportation for the past 7 years. I can get to the grocery store and to work within a 10 minute walk or 5 minute bike ride.

Rokko Island has seen our family grow.  Our babies have grown up here to be little people. At this point,  Rokko Island is home. We are closing a chapter on a big stage of our lives. A stage that wasn't always easy.  Raising two energetic kids as two full-time working parents is no short order, as many of you can attest to.

But, life "on-island" can be boring.  I can't easily get a gift or a new pair of shoes or buy a shirt a few hours before Maximo's concert because I realized he has outgrown everything since the last time he had to dress up. You often run into the same people on island and most days it doesn't feel very Japanese.

There are some decent restaurants on island.  But, we've eaten at all of them and you can only go back to Ritza so many times (their Salty Dogs will continue to draw me in with cool hand-chipped ice and fresh grapefruit juice).

When they were little, the kids were pretty happy just roaming to different playgrounds and hanging out at the River Mall.  While, they still are entertained with this, it's harder to fun tons of fun on island.

But, this post is about The Greenbelt. The greenbelt has been my unlikely oasis for the past 7 years. It often provides me with the only time I have for myself all week.  Sometimes it's only a 5k run once a week.  On a good week, in a good month, I'm lucky to double or triple my kilometers.

It's my sanity, my space, my time to meet with friends or rock out to my running mix and figure things out or just breathe.

I have made some of my best friends through running.  I am a much more consistent runner with a running buddy.  I love that so much can be shared on those runs or nothing at all.  I love that one of us could have the best run in years and the other maybe struggling to put one foot in front of the other, but we are all glad that we did it when we are done with our run and we are ready to start our day.

Today, I got out early for the first time in a long time, on a work day, which doesn't happen that much anymore.  I stopped to take pictures and enjoy my favorite views on my run because I will only run this loop a few more times. I may never run this path again after June 12th.

And I don't ever want to forget what it has given me.

Overgrown path - only scheduled mowings here, regardless of rain or season

Shipping cranes guarding the island

Palm trees!  Living somewhere with palm trees is always good for my soul.

Beautiful view of early morning on the South end of the Island

More Wild Cranes

Early Bird Bathroom Break

Our train stop (facing the opposite way due to the sun).
Usually my last sprint of my run.
Often the starting point to really fun nights out and adventures in Japan.

My cool down walk home

5K Greenbelt Loop on Rokko Island

So, I'll enjoy my last few runs on Rokko Island to keep my sanity and enjoy the beautiful weather over the next few weeks... And hope for a new running oasis in Beijing.

Respect Thy Neighbor

One of the things that I think I will miss most about Japan is respect.  In Japan, people are super respectful of space and others around them.

I love quiet!

I love considerate people!

A tradition in Japan is to bring neighbors gifts when you are moving into an apartment.  We were told this before we moved to Japan.  I got some cute little Peruvian knick-knack things to give to our future new neighbors in Japan.  Between the jetlag, starting a new job, trying to parent a crazy two year old and the massive language barrier, those little gifts remained in a closet for over a year and we never did formally introduce ourselves to our neighbors.

When we moved after about three years of living in Japan, I was more prepared and had a better understanding of the culture, so we brought cookies to our neighbor.  I wrangled the kids and sheepishly showed them a handwritten note (a friend graciously translated) to tell them who we were and to excuse our loud children.

Since then, we have had a few neighbors move in and out from around our apartment.  Tonight a new upstairs neighbor (note: we received a parting present from the neighbor who left a month ago) came by with her sons to deliver us a little gift with a note:

Between my broken Japanese and her broken English and with the help of introducing our similarly aged kids, we got through the formalities.

Unfortunately, I was unable to tell her we'll be moving out in a month... she'll figure it out when our shipping company commandeers the elevator or the teachers who are moving into our apartment in August awkwardly bring them a little gift.

An Update to Our Photos

Happy Golden Week #awaji #japan

A photo posted by Julie (@loslemleys) on May 1, 2016 at 9:26pm PDT

Picasa is a thing of the past and all of our photos have been merged onto Google Photos, which I'm not so crazy about, so starting 2016, all our photos will be on Flickr (until that gets replaced by something).

We just finished Golden Week, and we traveled down to First Backpackers Inn to camp on Awaji Island.  It was a beautiful night on the beach with friends.

Now, we have four full weeks of school left and less than 6 weeks until we leave Japan.

Flickr Photostream

A Trip to Koyosan

Many of our friends have travelled to Koyasan, and we've tried to book the easy two hour trip away, but we've always tried to do it last minute, and failed to book our stay at the Koyasan Guesthouse Kokuu.

First, before I go further with our visit to Koyasan, this little guesthouse deserve some props.  It is the first time we've stayed in a hostel like place since 2000 when John and I backpacked around Europe.  Koyasan Guesthouse is simple, but super well designed for visitors.  We stayed in "capsule" style rooms (one of us each with a kid).  There were also 3 family rooms.  They had a good, fresh breakfast of eggs, fresh bread, yogurt and fruit.  They also had a bar where we able to have a couple drinks before dinner.  They had curry for dinner every night, but we opted to eat at a local restaurant (Shunsai Kameya - 100 meters to the left of the hotel), which was really good!

Now, let me share our opinion of Koyosan with kids.  I would say that I wouldn't go with kids any younger than ours (8 &5 ), although we've had friends that did and survived.  There was a lot of walking for the kids and not a lot of exciting things for them to do.  (When asked what their favorite parts of the trip were - they both answered, staying in the capsule room).

They were troopers as we took long walks through the town and the cemetary and even did a night cemetary walk with us.

Koyosan was serene and a quaint town.  We stayed less than 24 hours there, so we did miss a few things.  Many people go and stay at the temples to learn more about the buddhist culture and experience shojin ryori cuisine.

Our favorite part was walking through Okunoin cemetery with over 200,000 memorials.  It was beautiful and so peaceful.  Moss and tree roots actively reclaiming some of the older markers and memorials.

Jizo - Protector of Children

International Teaching: We Are All in the Same Place

I distinctly remember when John and I were about the head to Peru and thinking... this is going to be weird, working together.

Now, not working together seems even stranger.  There are so many perks of being all at the same place.  Once and a while, John and I have lunch together which is a nice treat.

But best of all, we get to participate in the kids' activities.  Last week John got to go to Kande Farms with Maximo as a part of their Farm to Table and Systems Unit and I was lucky enough to make bread with 36 second graders.

June in Lola's Notes

We're getting ready to fly to Savannah in a few hours.  As always, the end of the year has been crazy.  Here's our June through Lola's notes from her daycare.  Enjoy!

Two Fun Videos

It's that time of year, full of events, meetings, writing comments and trying to get outside because it's beautiful!

We are counting down (4 weeks!) until we fly to SAV.

Here are two videos.

The first one of Lola singing her Onigiri (Japanese rice ball and her favorite lunch) Song.

The second one is the 7 inning stretch at a Hanshin Tigers Baseball game!  So much fun.  Lola was a bit sad about not getting her balloon back, though.

Living in Japan: The Sun

This weekend it seems like we jumped through Spring and started Summer in Kobe.

 The sky is bright blue, the sun is out and it's about 20C (about 70 degrees F).

Yesterday, I went out for my run on the Greenbelt, happy that I didn't have to put on a ton of layers and wanting a little color on my pasty skin.  I put on a tanktop and no sunscreen, knowing I was just going out for a 30 minute run.

I've lived here long enough and have become a bit more modest in my dress, especially in my workout clothes (maybe it's me getting older too), but I was, by far, the most under-dressed person on the Greenbelt (a 5K loop around the residential area of our island).

Yesterday was probably the start for most Japanese people to get out the sun protection gear - enlarged visors, UV sleeves and umbrellas.

While I was soaking up the warmth of the sun (and hopefully a bit of color), everyone else I ran past was totally covered up.

Now, if you've been to Japan, you'll realize that this protection from the sun bodes well for Japanese people.  I have seen octogenarians without a wrinkle on their face.  Frequently, I cannot guess the age of friends, because, well, they just look so young and healthy.

I wish I could have taken photos to really show the contrast between me in my flesh-flashing outfit (which really was just exposing my face and arms) compared to my walking and running compadres on the Greenbelt.  Unfortunately, I couldn't capture this as it would have been disrespectful to take photos of others walking/running by...

I've included some images of the lengths taken to make sure skin is protected in Japan (and these are very common accessories that are frequently seen from now until November).

Hakuba, Japan - In Review

We went to Hakuba (which is part of Nagano Prefecture where Japan has hosted the Winter Olympics twice) for about a week over break.  While I wasn't begging to go skiing for our winter holiday, the moment the kids stepped into the snow, I knew John had made the right decision.

Growing up in Connecticut, I had always been around snow.  Not big beautiful, mountainous, there-is-snow-on the ground for five months kind of snow, but still, I definitely had many experiences in the snow as a kid.

Maximo in lessons using his "idgy widgy" or "pizza maker"

Lola catching snow on her tongue

We find that beach vacations are really easy with the kids, they love to swim and play all day and all four of us are content.  But, with only a tiny annoyance of having to pull a newly potty trained kid out of all of her ski gear, this ski trip maybe was just as easy.

"This is going to be the best day ever"

We stayed at Alpine Ski Chalet which was great for our family.  We always appreciate a place that we can make simple breakfast and/or snacks and a place that the kids can go to sleep and we are not stuck in the dark at 8 pm.  The owner, Kevin, really helped us out in planning for our trip and recommended that we ski at Iimori and take lessons at Hakuba Snow Sports School.  They had MANY English instructors which was great for us.

Maximo took three mornings of lessons and was skiing semi-independently by the end of the three days, John's skiing level improved greatly over the three days.  After the first day of lessons (and my third time skiing), I decided to not put Lola into daycare again and hang out with her and sled and play in the snow.  I really don't love skiing.  It does not come naturally to me and as an (has -been) athlete, it is frustrating.  I don't love the sensation of going down the hill, although it is beautiful.  So, I'll try again some other time when Lola is older and in her own lessons.

Hakuba, to a foreigner living in Japan, is kind of Bizarroland.  There are SO MANY foreigners, especially Australians.  There are many direct flights from Australia straight to Hakuba and it's definitely a destination vacation.  There were many times we didn't even feel like we were in Japan.  There was English everywhere, even taxi drivers spoke good English, everyone around us could actually understand everything we were saying and I only saw chopsticks at one of the restaurants we went to (or they just automatically offered us forks and knives).

Dinner with the Welbes Family every night.

That being said, it was a great family holiday.  John may even convince me to go on another ski holiday while we are living in Japan.  He is taking my place on the middle school ski trip in a few weeks, and I know he's excited about being able to go skiing again soon.

Halloween 2013: Cross Cultural Holidays

A German candy (like gummy bears) made in Japan
 with the common R for an L mistake

Tonight we went to a faculty kids' Halloween party in "the backyard" at school.  It was supposed to be two weeks ago, but we have had a crazy fall of typhoons and rain, so it the first date was cancelled due to rain.  Since we had Fall Break last week, it was rescheduled until tonight. Maximo and Lola didn't know any difference.  I think they'd dress up every day of the year with or without the promise of candy anyways.

The kids had a great time.  Before we went to the party, I did a role play with Lola to make sure she remembered what she had to do to trick or treat.  She seemed to remember the "trick or treat" party and I loved her Japanese response of "arigato" at the end. (So of course, I had her repeat it for the camera).  She got a little confused during the actual trick-or-treating tonight because most everyone was sitting with their doors open, so she didn't have a chance to knock.

Halloween is a holiday that is definitely recognized in Japan.  In general, Japanese people like to dress up and there is always Halloween-like displays at the stores, including candy and costumes. But, it is not common for Japanese kids to trick-or-treat like John and I did growing up. However, there is a huge festival on our island for Halloween where kids dress up, but it's mostly eating great street food and doing other festival games (which our family got to enjoy this year). There is a kids' costume parade at the Rokko Island Halloween Festival, but the line/wait is always horrendous, so we've never participated.  The kids are happy to just dress up and munch on food on sticks for two days (the adults are too!).

Saddling up for the Halloween Party

Going to Trick-or-Treating
(John went as "Old Spice")

Maximo's Halloween Bag.   I labeled it in English and he did it in Japanese.

We love it that Maximo and Lola have some of the same traditions we had as kids, especially with interesting Japanese or Peruvian (or where ever is next) spin on holidays and traditions.

30 Things You Should Know and/or Will Love about Japan Series: # 30

#30 - A quick summary of some of our favorite things we didn't write about (sorry about the all the food - we love to eat and food in Japan is good!):

Yakisoba - literally "fried noodles", it's sometimes served with a bit of pork and pickled ginger.

Image Credit: www.photoree.com
I'm just realizing I never posted about "plastic food"

It's an easy go-to meal, especially if we can't read the menu and the kids enjoy it too.
Something we haven't tried (and don't have a lot of interest in trying), but can be found in most convenience stores is the yakisoba sandwich - a massive carbo load. "Yakisobapan"

Image Credit: www.ifood.tv

Gyoza - fried dumpling (potsticker), usually with minced pork filling.  Eat these fast around Maximo.  He loves them and will try to eat more than you!

Creative Commons Image by Roger T Wong via Wikimedia

Takoyaki - a ball shaped pancake (like a fritter, but not fried) with octopus on the inside. Another thing I like "nashi" (without) mayonnaise.  It's usually covered in a sauce and bonito flakes.

Image Credit: www.mamaloli.com

Painters Outfits

Image Credit: www.flickr.com by Kelly McCormick

The shoes being equally as awesome (we've never tried them though).  I'd love to know the history behind this uniform.

Image Credit: www.news.3yen.com

Wasabi Almonds - I can't believe I don't have a picture of them.  We get them from a local sake brewery.  They are so, so good!

Momoji (cakes) - Momoji are maple leaves.  In Miyajima, they specialize in these little cakes, which have different flavored centers.  I like custard and chocolate, but bean paste is also yummy!

Image Credit: www.21food.com

Kobe Beef - It's so good.  We're going to take you to our favorite place!

Image Credit: www.keioplaza.com

Robotoyaki - translates to "fireside cooking".  Picture yourself sitting up against a display of food.  Behind that is the cook who will prepare what you order (or point to), then serve it to you on a paddle (yes, like a flattened boat paddle) as he reaches over to hand it back to you.

Image Credit: www.nationmultimedia.com

There are also many places which we haven't even begin to talk about, but we didn't really want to spoil it for our family. We want them to experience these places first hand, in real life, not through photos on our blog.  Barely off the plane, I'll whisk them off to Hiroshima and Miyajima (as long as the typhoon stays away).

We'll also go to other amazing places, which are all day trips from our house:

Kyoto - including the Golden Pavilion and Nishiki Markets (KNIVES!)

Arashiyama - we'll see the monkeys, bamboo forest and walk around town

Miyajima - oysters, deer, the beautiful torii gates, many temples, a great little island!

Nara - Todaji temple, more deer, gardens, parks.  Japan's first capital city.

I've enjoyed writing these posts, even during a hectic time of the school year, with multiple trips.

Hopefully, in the future, I will add in a few more "Living in Japan" posts to our normal posts which are smattered with pictures of our kids and our travels in Japan and throughout Asia.

Come to Japan... it's an amazing place.
No we're going to try to squeeze in all 30+ of these posts + more into 14 days.  Let's see how we do!