making gyoza

Before coming to Japan, I don't think I ate potstickers at a Chinese restaurant. They're called "Gyoza" here and are often eaten with ramen. I decided to try my hand at making some myself.

In my kitchen/corner. It's tiny. Fortunately, so is Asako.

The finished product! Yum. The green color is the basil, which is not a normal ingredient, but one that I decided would be good. It wasn't bad at all!

It was a success!

The Laundry Takes Over!

Yuki!!!

I woke up this morning to a rare sight in Kobe. SNOW! There wasn't much of it and it didn't last long but it brought a smile to my face. When I arrived at the church, the girls were rushing around gathering (scraping, really) every flake of snow they could to build a snowman. It was a precious example of team work. I was impressed with their efforts. So cute!

Happy Obama Day!

I heard about a book of kids letters written to President Obama tonight on NPRs This American Life podcast. It's called "Thanks and Have Fun Running the Country."

Here are some great excerpts that make me smile:

Dear President Obama,
Could you help my family to get housecleaning jobs? I hope you will be a great president. If I were president, I would help all nations, even Hawaii. President Obama, I think you could help the world.
Chad Timsing, age 9, Los Angeles

I really hope you put America back together. No pressure though.
Sheenie Shannon Yip, age 13, Seattle

1. Fly to the White House in a helicopter. 2. Walk in. 3. Wipe feet. 4. Walk to the Oval Office. 5. Sit down in a chair. 6. Put hand sanitizer on hands. 7. Enjoy moment. 8. Get up. 9. Get in car. 10. Go to the dog pound.
Chandler Browne, age 12, Chicago

Dear President Obama,
When you are president, don't eat junk food. Junk food makes you fat. Your family shouldn't eat junk food, either, because it is not healthy. Obama, you rock.
Amy Ramirez, age 8, San Francisco

President Obama,
You should not smoke when you are president! There are simple reasons. Because you will die by smoking, and then you will not be president! But I want you to be.
Your No. 1 fan,
David Lopez, age 7 Los Angeles

Dear President/Mr. Obama,
The best thing about living in the White House would be running around like a maniac. The thing I would like least is the work.
Holly Wong, age 9, San Francisco

screaming at the top of my lungs

I found this old note scribbled in a notepad:

Today I saw a little girl in a train station, about 4 or 5 years old, screaming at the top of her lungs. She didn't look angry or upset. Maybe she just liked the sound of her own voice rattling around the station's walls. Maybe she enjoyed the release of energy it gave her. Maybe it's because she had no sense of propriety and had no bounds to a social standard. I don't know. I found myself smiling at her and she immediately fell silent. And she just stared at me. Her freedom was gone at the notice of another.

I find myself in her. I want to be free-to find my voice and use it despite the stares of those around me.

This was written at the beginning of last spring after a long, hard winter. Here I am at the beginning of another winter. I hate winter. I hate what it does to me. I hate feeling listless and bored. and cold. and hungry all the time.

Last year I felt stifled by the constant staring. I think I'm over that, mostly. But, sadly I've moved on to another stage of just being annoyed with everything. Don't get me wrong, I'm living a completely comfortable life and am lacking nothing. It's my blog, I can whine, can't I? I depart from my usual optimistic self for the sake of my sanity. Please excuse me.

If I have to have one more "conversation" that includes the phrase "My hobbies are..." I'm gonna set my hair on fire. I'm so sick of surfacey relationships that are awkward and exhausting. I'm tired of standing around the same room with a smile pasted on my face waiting for someone to notice that I'm there. My heart breaks every Sunday morning when the funeral dirge begins and we sing the same songs that have no meaning to me.

The person who's supposed to be looking out for me at the church asked me for the first time ever, "So how are you doing?" and I couldn't truly answer that I feel like crap. How can I? I have no relationship with this man. Why do I want to start now? What's he gonna do with what I have to hand him? I don't trust him to handle me with care.

And now is the time I'm supposed to be thinking about a future in Japan. ! Really?

What's sad to me is that I've hid my true feelings of disappointment for so long that I'm afraid to post this. I'm afraid to broadcast that I'm lonely and don't really like what I'm doing. In fact, I'd say that I feel like some of what I do (totally ineffective Bible studies) is more of a hindrance to the gospel than a help. I'm afraid to say that my motives for coming to Japan had a lot less to do with Jesus and more to do with looking for an adventure.

Well, there it is. There's my crap. It's not pretty. And it's kind of scary to be transparent since I'm out of practice. It's been a long time since I've been able to really share myself with someone. There's a painful pressure building in my soul and I need to release it in some other way than watching hours of pirated internet movies.

Christmas/New Year's yasumi (break)

I'm finally at the tail end of a 2 week+ long cold that really kicked my butt. Somewhere in the there, I caved and went to the doctor. That was an experience. I've said it a million times: everything in Japan takes a long time. This was no different. I left the hospital about 5 hours after receiving an IV boost of vitamins and a handful of medicines. The most interesting part was inserting my new hospital ID card into what looked like an ATM machine and paying my portion of the bill. It was only around $20! I couldn't believe it. I love Japan's national health care system! To be honest, it was a hard Christmas this year. I felt the absence of my family like the big gaping hole that it was. Plan after plan was cancelled and re-adapted. I was beginning to feel like I was supposed to be alone on Christmas day. It was not pretty--the self pity was deep. Fortunately, Asako and Satoko spent the night with me on Christmas Eve and I surprised them with Christmas socks in the morning. They had to go to work that morning, but it was so nice to share that time with them. Their friendship continues to give me life.

Despite my cold, I was recruited at the last minute to be Mary in the church's nativity story. It was embarrassing to be the only one in the choir in costume. But, I got over it. These pictures make me laugh. I was going for the angelic look. How'd I do?

I took part in a couple of Japanese traditions for the New Year. At midnight on New Years Eve, my new friend Melissa and I watched the lights on the big bridge change colors. It wasn't nearly as exciting as I thought it would be, but still something special. Then, we went to the temple next to my apartment building and took pictures of everyone ringing the bells and saying their first prayers of 2009. A lot of people were buying new good luck charms and getting rid of the ones from last year. That was interesting to see. A priest waved a stick with a bunch of white paper hanging off the end over their bowed heads and said something. Then, they threw whatever they had into a pile to be burned later.

A thoughtful friend prepared an "Osechi" for me, which is a traditional New Years lunch box of all kinds of food with special meaning. I wrote a bit about it last year. A lot of it is fishy, and really, if I'm in the comfort of my own home, I'm not likely to eat it. So, I was happy when Asako came to my place and shared/ate the majority of the meal for me. I've yet to acquired the taste for these little guys...but I do try to every once in a while.

This was after a day of shopping for "fukubukuro" which are essentially grab bags of clearance items that wouldn't sell last year. Satoko and her friend spent the equivalent of my month's salary each (really!) in one store while Asako and I checked out the 100 yen shop next door. I got a new planner for 2009 and am deliriously excited about the possibilities for the empty spaces in that calendar. Oh what a dork I am!

This store was so crowded! I didn't even try to step in there.

There was some crazy head gear in this store!