Lost In Translation... Well, Sort Of - Sept 22, 2006

Konnichiwa!... or Ohayo (Good Morning) rather

I know it's long overdue, but I figured I should write to say we have arrived to Japan safely. Isaiah was wonderful on the plane ride. We had a direct flight from Detroit, which was 14 hours. After we got to Tokyo we had to catch the bullet train to Sendai. When we arrived the entire team met us at the station and we immediately went to dinner as a group and they gave me and Mike new cellphones that were already active. Our address is the same as I posted before. If you haven't already, please download Skype to your computer. We are able to call anyone who has Skype internationally for free. If you have a webcam it works even better... If we call anyone that doesn't have Skype, the rates are just 2 cents per minute.

Visual Dependency
I truly must thank my family for years of practice in playing Pictionary at a time like this... I have to admit embarrasingly that I go around town drawing pictures of what I am trying to say when my attempt at Japanese fails me. Luckily, everyone here has been understanding and I am always greeted with a smile .... well, maybe it's more of a laugh. Apparently, to Isaiah, I look as though I am also practicing sign language since I am much more expressive with my hands here and he has begun signing things at people when they talk to him. This is not a country where I can even attempt to get by cheating with my English... I found a free japenese class for adults with children under 9 that I am going to begin. All I have to purchase is the text book.

Sendai... what it's like
I really should begin journaling our travels. Seriously. I don't know what I was thinking... Mike and I talk about the similarities and differences in cultures everywhere we go. We have a list of characteristics that we loved about different places.

Downtown Sendai is like a unique blend of New York City's Times Square and downtown Auckland, NZ. This was quite surprising, as I expected it to be very small and unmodern. It takes me about 15 minutes to get from our suburb, Sendai- Izumi Chuo, to downtown where it's quite bustling. Okay, the difference between Sendai and NYC is that Sendai is super clean. They have very strict recycling laws here and you don't find trash cans all over either.

It rained the first few days after we arrived, and we had serious jet-lag. Actually, we still do and wake up faithfull at 4am each night. This week the weather has been beautiful. People walk around with umbrellas when it's sunny outside, and that's different.

Portions are served very small here compared to America. And Japanese people in Sendai drink Green Tea like it's water. You are supposed to drink at least a pint of green tea per day for maximum effects.

Deja Vu
Right now as I am typing, Isaiah is screaming "DAD-DY!" out of the patio screen window that overlooks a small street. I am laughing to myself because I remember Kiana doing the same thing to Keino when they lived in an apartment building near Howard University and saying how inappropriate it was! :) Mike is gone a lot at practice... I mean they work him hard here. He gets picked up at like 9am each morning and dropped off around 9pm. They say it will lighten up once the season begins in November. He's been on two road trips so far for exhibition games and they go for a training camp in the mountains for 4 days in about a week or so. Hence, Isaiah has been missing him and randomly yelling out DAHDEE after he hasn't seen him for hours and goes into my purse for my cellphone and says "DAHDEE" when he flips it open, thinking that's how he can talk to Mike. Everyone is very supportive here it seems.

I take Isaiah down the street (3 blocks away) to the mall to play with other kids everyday after I am done with my work. Isaiah, for some reason, gravitates to the older kids that like to do flips and somersalts in the play area. Luckily it is well cushioned. They really like to touch his hair when they see him. And the children always run up to me and say "Hello", but if I try to say anything else in English to them they look at me strangely... so I assume they know the word "Hello" and assume I am American when they see me.

All About The Benja-Yens!
Man oh man it's expensive here in Japan. I bought cheap discount towels last week that cost $20 a piece. A box of oatmeal cost $6 and a jar of spaghetti sauce was also $6 bucks. I took a cab the first time I went downtown, and when we arrived it cost $30!! Needless to say, I take the subway now which costs around 2 dollars (200 yen). Isaiah really likes riding the subway trains.

Midori, Yuko, and Junko
I have 3 friends here that I talk to regularly, so far. The coach's wife Midori (who has lived in Arizona and Cali for 2 years previously and understands most English), Yuko (the trainer's wife who has me call her husband's cellphone when she doesn't understand what I am trying say to her), and Junko (the assistant coach's wife, who seems super nice but doesn't speak English except "Nice to meet you."). Midori is a dental hygenist and takes classes in the evenings. Yuko is more "earthy" and invited me to take ceramics class with her. Yuko tells me different people want to meet me so they can practice their English with me. Yuko has offered to take care of Isaiah whenever I want to go do something. I have no idea what Junko does during the daytime because I haven't figured out how to ask yet. I have learned that you cannot say you want ANYTHING here without someone going to get it. Seriously. The Japanese culture is extremely accomodating, to say the least. Everyone is so helpful and generous with hospitality here. Everytime Mike comes home he has something that someone wanted to send to us. We have to be careful not to express needing or wanting anything around here.

The only thing I haven't been able to find that I want is applesauce for Isaiah. This post is getting long... sorry. I know I have left so much out, but I could go on and on with stories and details. Sent with lots of love from across the Pacific.

Sayonara,Mai