Four years later

The other night, I tried in vain to fall asleep. Instead of peacefully drifting off into dreamland, I laid in bed with random thoughts running through my head. From global warming to my son returning to school in just a few days, my mind was full of unease. I tried counting from 100 to 1, but sleep remained elusive. Just when I thought I had experienced the full range of random thoughts, I realized that we were about to pass the 4th anniversary of arriving in Japan.

Soon, instead of counting numbers, I was counting experiences we have amassed over the past 4 years. Of course, our first 2.5 years were filled with activities, while the past year and a half we've mostly stuck close to home. I'm so glad I have kept this blog as a record of our many activities, because I know I have forgotten many of them!

Beyond the individual experiences we have had, I focused on how we have changed over the past 4 years. Our son has spent almost half his life here, as we moved here when he was newly 4 years old. It is so easy to see the differences in children as the years are much more apparent. He went from a young explorer to an eager scholar, as he completed kindergarten and went on to elementary school.

Just today, our son completed a rite of passage that is customary in Japan. He went on a family errand all by himself. He took our lunch orders, walked to a nearby take-out restaurant, purchased our afternoon meal, and brought it all home - all by himself! I tried not to be nervous, as this is not a task for an 8 year old in the US, but he proved he was ready and able when he completed the task with ease.

It is a bit harder to see the changes in my husband and me, but they are there. They are more internal in nature.

To celebrate this anniversary, we enjoyed some sparklers in the garden. We love senko-hanabi, a traditional Japanese sparkler that are small and simple, but beautiful to watch. My husband did these a lot when he was a child. You have to hold the sparkler very still (and can't do them on windy days) to get the full benefit of the sparkler. As soon as the lit tip falls off the fragile stem, the experience is over. But if the stars align, it provides a beautiful show.

Two kinds of senko-hanabi - Osaka (black tips) and Tokyo (colorful sticks).

I eventually fell asleep the other night with dreams of things that we still have yet to experience in this country, giving me something to look forward to. Each day we continue to hold onto this adventure of living in Japan, trying to get the full benefit of our experience. Just like with the senko-hanabi, we pray we are able to get the most out of our life here and appreciate the beauty along the way.

Big blue

On the rare occasion we rent a car, we try to fill our day with fun things. Desperate for a Costco run, my husband relented and rented a car. Unfortunately, this time, the weather wasn't going to cooperate for a fun day with outside adventures. But we weren't going to be deterred.

We decided to start our day with a quick stop at a blueberry farm for u-pick berries. At this particular farm, customers could pick if they wanted to nibble their way through the field or snack and pick to take home. Since getting to take any berries home from a u-pick is a rarity, I was excited to choose the latter. We can never have enough blueberries at home!

Lucky for us, it was only sprinkling when we arrived at the farm. We donned our ponchos and began to pick. I love farms that have a variety of berries, so we can find the type that we most enjoy.

Most blueberry fields I have seen in Japan, reside within a huge netting "cage". While it isn't very attractive, I would guess they don't loose huge crops to birds.

We picked an extra kilo (2.2 lbs) of berries to take home with us. My son was super excited, as he loves to have berries as snacks as well as with breakfast. I love to nibble on them, but also to cook with them! This time, I decided to make some jam with some of the berries (I also had some in the freezer, because I didn't want to use all the fresh berries for the jam).

I found a lovely recipe on foodinjars.com for cranberry-blueberry jam that doesn't use pectin. It is a very simple jam to make. I happened to have some leftover cranberries in the freezer from the holidays. Cranberries are not a common ingredient in Japan, so I was super happy to have these!

I was overjoyed to make the jam. Now my family has a couple jars, and I was able to gift a couple jars to the neighbors!

She shot me!

After (not so) patiently waiting for months, I finally got my first Covid vaccine this week. It honestly felt like this day was never going to come.

In Japan, you must first receive a voucher before you can get a vaccine. The vouchers are dispensed via mail by order of priority - based on age and health. I received my voucher a month and a half ago. But getting a voucher didn't guarantee me an appointment. We (meaning my husband) still had to do a lot of work to find an available appointment for me. After a lot of time spent on the phone and internet, he was able to secure a slot for me at a community center that the city has repurposed into a Covid vaccine clinic.

On Thursday, we spent our morning just like any other day. My husband and son ate breakfast while I slept in. My son did a bit of homework while I showered and my husband washed dishes. Before we knew it, it was 10am and time to go. We dropped our son off at our (wonderful) neighbor and hopped on our bikes. The community center was just a short 15 minute ride away.

Since we arrived about 10 minutes before my appointment time, we found no line. Instead, there was a greeter who had us sanitize our hands and take our temperature with a face scanner. After explaining my husband was with as my translator, the greeter double checked my appointment time and instructed us to go inside.

I was shocked to see the community center as a sterile environment. The floors were covered in paper with tape arrows. The walls were bare, void of any cheerful decorations that usually adorn the center. Mobile walls were strategically placed with black and white signs stating no cell phones or photos or video. It felt a bit creepy.

There were only 3 people ahead of me as we waited to check in. At the first stop I showed my paperwork and was told to go to the second station where a medical consultant double checked my paperwork and made sure I didn't have any questions. The third station was the healthcare professional who was going to give me my shot. After a couple questions (left arm or right arm and so forth), she got right to business and gave me my shot. While she was doing her job, I made a joke about wanting to drink alcohol. When people don't even make an effort to speak English, I just assume that they don't actually speak or understand English. This is a very bad habit that I obviously need to break. As she was giving my husband some notes (watch for a tingling sensation in my arm), she specifically told him I wasn't allowed to drink any alcohol for the rest of the day. Then she asked him if I drink on a daily basis! Note to self - stop joking in front of medical professionals.

Up next came station number 4 with more paperwork checking. The final station was a waiting room where I had to sit for 15 minutes. There was a big sign emphasizing no talking. So, everyone was simply staring at their phones.

Once my 15 minutes was up, I was free to leave. As we walked out of the building, I asked my husband if he put my next appointment in the calendar. After all, when he got his first shot, he was given a second appointment right then and there. It was the same for our neighbors. So, I assumed it would be the same for me. But they got their shots at private doctors offices, not a city run clinic. Instead, my husband had to seek out an appointment for me after 8pm.

Riding my bike back home brought a sense of relief that I haven't felt in over a year and a half. I know things are still incredibly scary out there (5,773 new cases in Tokyo today), but it felt just a little less scary than it did the day before.

Now I'm sporting a very sore arm, but a little brighter smile. Now I just have to patiently wait for shot number 2.

Much ado about nothing

As the summer days go by, my family is staying home. My husband continues to work from our bedroom. Our son does his summer school work in the morning and plays with the neighbor kids in the afternoons. I spend my days reading, cooking, and doing random tasks. It is nothing like I dreamed our summer would look like.

We watch the Olympics on television, just like the rest of the world. We've enjoyed watching the games, including tonight's equestrian jumping event (we loved the fun Japanese themed jumps). I feel bad for the athletes that have come all this way to compete, but are not able to experience Japan. I heard about 2 athletes that decided to sneak out of their hotel. They were caught and had their Olympic IDs revoked as punishment. It is such a shame.

I realized earlier this week that I have only left the house 2 times in the past week, both times to go to the grocery store. While I have most of my produce delivered, I still need to grab other ingredients periodically. Even after living here for almost 4 years, I still feel like my fridge is incredibly small! While most Japanese people shop daily or every other day, I still prefer to go to the shops only once or twice a week. It is just something that I don't think I will ever get used to. The only type of shopping that I want to do every single day is gathering items from a garden.

Speaking of the garden, my pots are miserable in the heat. Many of my plants, just like in years past, have bolted or keeled over even though I've been religious about watering them. My tomatoes seem to be the only thing happy out there right now. We're getting a good bowl full of cherry tomatoes every other day. Oh, and the sage is ready to harvest. I will most likely make my beloved brown butter sage pesto tomorrow after my best friend inspired me to do so by mentioning it today.

My big excitement this week was being able to order plain Cheerios from a website called iHerb.com (they specialize in herbal supplements). I'd been hearing about the website for a while, but my husband was hesitant to open another online account. Luckily, my neighbor orders from them and told me I could add to her order anytime. It might seem strange to be excited about getting a box of Cheerios, but familiar tastes of home really provide a lifeline at times. I still recall special packages sent to us over the years with peanut butter, graham crackers, spices, apple chips, pretzels, my beloved Puffs tissues, and more. Every package has meant so much and left us feeling elated beyond belief!

As summer continues to pass us by, I wonder if we will get to do anything special. It is looking like a resounding no. That realization makes both the US and Japan feel even further away than they have been for the past year and a half.