Kyoto Matcha

Green Tea Kamakura

Searching for Sea Glass

It was -2 degrees outside (Celsius that is!  Negative two sounds much colder than twenty-eight) and we were driving between snow covered farms and little fishing towns that were seemingly deserted.  We were in Aomori prefecture, a completely different world than the crowded streets of Tokyo.  Here, the roads were wider, and the snow drifts rose three feet on either side.  Forests gave way to fields which gave way to more forests, until you reached the sea.  Small country shrines would appear now and then, almost hidden amongst the trees and the snow, and they seemed unkept and unvisited.  I liked the slower pace of life, the clean air, and the empty landscape.  It was a beautiful drive, a nice escape from city life.



We were driving through beautiful northern Japan, looking to find sea glass at shipwreck beach.  It was an enjoyable drive, and was perhaps the first enjoyable drive I have had since arriving in Japan.  In Tokyo, I am often gripping the steering wheel while trying not to hit things on the very narrow roads.  Here, the roads were wide, no cars were to be seen, and the roads opened up the world instead of trapping you. We had direcions to shipwreck beach, but the roads the directions led us to were unplowed, and since we had a small rental car, we decided not to risk getting stuck.  I wasn’t about to test out the Honda Fit in a few feet of snow in the middle of nowhere.  Eventually we found a parking lot near a wind farm that looked much more doable in terms of snow and ice.

The beach was a short walk, but we don’t think it was actually shipwreck beach.  I want to visit again during another season, as I have heard the shipwrecks are neat to see.  A bartender the night before told us the Japanese don’t like to visit shipwreck beach because it is eerie.  I am excited to go back and visit!  The car was nice and cozy, and from the car, it seemed like a great idea to go searching for sea glass in -2 degree weather.  Great idea indeed!  As we struggled across a field covered in snow, we began being pelted in the face with sea mist that was turning to ice. Having a hard time moving forward due to the strong wind, I momentarily rethought what a great idea we had had.  However, we continued on and when we finally made it to the water’s edge, the pain from the sea mist ice and wind was subdued as we discovered beautiful blues, whites, and greens scattered about.

It was breathtaking, and suddenly I was warm and my spirits were lifted.  Sea glass is formed by being tumbled, rounded, and shaped by the sea over many years.  It is beautiful and the pure joy that comes with finding a stunning piece in the sand is indescribable.  We walked up and down the beach until we couldn’t feel our hands or face.  We turned to walk back, and suddenly we heard a voice. There was a man standing right next to us!  I am still unsure how he creeped up on us so quietly.  I was startled, and kind of jumped when he started talking to us.  He asked us a question, so we showed him all of the sea glass we had collected.  This seemed to please him, as he smiled and laughed, and we had a brief conversation that included lots of smiling and laughing.  What we discussed James and I will never know, but it seemed to be a nice conversation.  Frozen, we began walking faster in anticipation of a warm car.  We scanned the landscape looking for where we had entered from the road, but it all looked the same.  I only panicked for a moment, as we were already freezing and not knowing where the car was could be potentially disastrous.  We consulted each other on where we each thought we had entered (which were surprisingly very different).  Thankfully, after only a few minutes of stumbling through icy puddles and frozen sea grass, we found the path leading to the road and our heated car.

Angela the Cartoon Teacher

In December, I had the awesome opportunity to meet with an illustrator from AERA English magazine, to be turned into a cartoon (manga) strip.  One of the schools I teach with, Goover English School, set up the meeting, and invited me to participate in the interview.  I was a bit confused as to what was actually happening, and I didn’t know that I would be teaching a lesson, so I didn’t really have anything planned.  I thought it was going to be an interview, but that was not the case.  I have found that while there is often no communication breakdown in person with Japanese English speakers, over the phone, there is often a communication breakdown.  At least for me.  After picking up a representative from my school and two workers from AERA English magazine, I showed them around our house, served them drinks and food, invited everyone into the living room, and then sat down ready to be interviewed.  The room was silent.  I was waiting for them to begin, and nothing happened.  So I asked the representative what to do, and he told me to teach her.  Hmmm…. “Teach her (the illustrator)?  Teach her what?”  I should have expected the response. “Teach her English.”  Ah…..so I threw together a “lesson” that involved talking a lot about myself and asking her about traveling to America.  We then moved into football, and general guidelines for talking with a stranger.  It was a bit awkward, but I didn’t know what to do.   Despite not really knowing what to expect, and having to wing it, it was a really fun and interesting experience.  I laughed at how amazed they were by the gallon of milk and by our large stove.  I think they laughed at our paper lamps and obi decoration on the tv stand.  It was a great time.  Please enjoy the translation provided by a friend of a friend!

Simple changes in my life

After nine months of living in Japan, I am noticing some things I am doing differently now.  Please enjoy these slight, but significant changes in my life.

• I pick out shoes based on how easily they slide on and off.


• I bow (head nod) at other drivers when I am in the car.


• I wait for the walk sign to turn green even if there are no cars coming.


• I prefer chopsticks to a spoon.


• I always ask what train station something is near when getting directions.


• I judge distance based on time, and not actual distance.


• I think paying your bills at a gas station is completely normal.


• I get unnecessarily excited when I see Mt. Fuji.


• I take naps on the train.


• I line up behind people, just because they are standing there.


• I rely on road mirrors to make turns.


• I don’t walk and drink.


• I answer with “maybe” all the time.


• I am not surprised when there are cartoons on our electric bill.


• I count out exact change.


• I put two fingers up when I take a picture.


• I say “konpai” instead of cheers.


• I get excited about ferris wheels.


• I buy trinkets at shrines.


• I don’t get confused when a stranger gives me their kid to take a picture with.


• I will eat anything green tea flavored, including noodles.


• I don’t drive after a sip of communion wine.

I’m sure there are many more, but life in Japan seems very normal now, so they are difficult to think of.

Tokyo Lover's of Art

When we visited the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art, this is what the line looked like.  (Yes, for a museum!)



This is how the guys felt about it.  We waited anyways.  It was an interesting experience to say the least.

Odawara Lantern Festival

Experiencing our first real winter in several years has us wishing for some warmer temperatures.  That is until I was looking at some of our pictures from this past summer.  One of our most unique experiences thus far in Japan came in the middle of the most humid, sticky, hot, miserable summer I can remember.  Angela had seen or heard of a festival in a nearby town involving Lanterns.  We had barely been in the country and decided to check it out.  We were still living on base and were dripping with sweat well before we had reached the train station and were wondering if the trip was worth it.  After a relatively scenic ride west, we arrived at the town of Odawara in the foothills near Hakone Mountain (a traditional resort mountain offering stunning views of Mt. Fuji).  We enjoyed being out in a more spaced out town and followed the crowds to the reconstructed castle.  Odawara Castle has a long and distinguished history, involving rival Shogun sieges and being noteworthy as among the very last targets bombed by the United States in World War Two.  The Castle had been rebuilt following the great 1923 Kanto Earthquake and now houses rebuilt outbuildings, gardens, and a moat.  The lantern festival was held in the castle garden.  We learned the lanterns were special for being developed in Odawara centuries ago and look like fold up paper.  The local elementary schools have come to decorate hundreds of lanterns which are lit up at night along the castle moat making for great photos.  The most common theme amongst the lanterns were Disney characters, particularly Stitch (side note: the Japanese are obsessed with Hawaii).  While it was still stifling hot we paid to take a tour of the castle as the festivities were to begin near sundown.  With our admission ticket we also got to walk through a museum about the castle, but it was lost on us as our ability to read Japanese is non-existent.  After a hot walk up through a wooden castle filled with Samurai outfits, we reached the Castle Keep offering a vista of Sagami Bay, though the bay breezes still did not cool us down.  We descended into the festival and were met with a truly cultural experience.  The food vendors offered “seasage” dogs (likely some sort of fish), kimchi (which we tried and didn’t care for) but most abundantly, food on sticks.  Angela braved a squid on a stick, and found the taste quite good but too chewy.  We were hot and looked for shaved ice, but saw beer, and ordered a Sapporo on draft, receiving of course whiskey with a shot of beer. Of Course… The Japanese come to party!  The actual festival recounted events we, as the only gaijin in attendance, had no clue, but we enjoyed dances and theater in kimonos as we tried to stay cool.  After dark, a long parade formed and marched to different dance songs out of the castle into the town, and we enjoyed a nice stroll along an ancient moat lit by lanterns decorated with Disney characters.  We arrived back at home exhausted, sweaty, and hot, but realized that we were going to get the most out of living in Japan!