Mom's Entry

Many apologies to the faithful readers of Jane’s Blog for this late entry. Jet lag from our trip to Japan took us much longer to recover from than anticipated before jumping back into our work schedules and travel schedules.

Our tour guide in Japan was the BEST! We would never have seen as much as we did if it had not been for Jane and her Japanese skills. She has already highlighted many of the places we visited, so I will share some stories as requested.

I was impressed with the uniforms, white gloves and professional/courteous train, bus, and taxi drivers. All forms of transportation were efficient and clean. However, if you ever board a crowed city bus in Kyoto, be aware of the mighty little old ladies that board the back of the bus. They transform into a football-charge stance and plow through people to get to the front of the bus in order to get off at their destinations. I almost landed on the floor as one of these women shoved me. Jane said something in Japanese to her and she stopped her charging.

Most people have washing machines, but no dryers. Laundry is hung out to dry on balconies. Dirk and I found a western-style Laundromat in Kyoto to wash/dry our clothes. The washing machines automatically dispensed detergent. We met 2 chatty young men from Australia who were staying in a hostel and touring Japan for a month. It is interesting how much people like to visit when they meet someone who speaks their native language. We saw lots of people from Australia visiting Japan.

We did a lot of eating out due to our touring schedule. I craved fresh vegetables and salads. They were usually nowhere to be found. Jane whipped-up her soon-to-be-famous rice/veg/chicken recipe twice. It was delicious and satisfying. I have not been able to reproduce it yet. Jane, I will need a lesson in August. We have been putting ground roasted sesame seeds on everything since returning. My favorite restaurant dish was the okonomiyaki lunch in Hiroshima. Entertaining and delicious!!!

The junior high students at one of Jane’s assigned schools were a delight! The second class was especially enthusiastic about participating in interviewing us and playing Jeopardy. It was especially fun to see Jane’s interaction with them. We were asked what our favorite sport was and how old we were! One girl asked me if I loved my husband and later asked me “how much do you love your husband?” Ha ha

Three of my favorite and lasting memories were seeing the beautiful Gold Pavilion in Kyoto and the peaceful surrounding gardens, relaxing/rejuvenating in the onsen at Nishi-iya followed by dinner with Justin and Mailena at a Japanese restaurant, and the awesome pottery shops in Naruto.