Months of Random Adventure!

I have done something that I thought I would never do again. And then I did it twice.

I went skating! Of all the places for a Canadian to go skating (for the first time in 10 years) Japan is not at the top of the list. But that is just what I did, and then a week later, I did it again. I honestly thought I would never go skating again as I had a tendency to break things whenever I went rollerskating as a child. But when adventure calls you must answer.

The first time we went it was in celebration of Genny's birthday. She's the redheaded New Yorker who is part of Carl's new improv group. And she loves skating. She found a skating rink inside of a cheesy, poorly spell-checked, yet fun, amusement park just outside of Osaka. We went with Curtis, another member of Carl's group (who was last seen in "North Country" calling Charlize Theron a very bad word), and his family, including two fun but exhausting boys, as well as other miscellaneous friends, some of whom didn't even know the birthday girl. The rink was small and crowded but it did have a Zamboni machine! I soon found my ice legs, much to my surprise. And I didn't even fall once! (Honestly, this is an amazing achievement! Ask my parents.)

Carl, the former figure skater, also took a while to find his balance, but by the time we left he was doing some spins to entertain us.

The next time we went was with Carl and his two fun but exhausting private students and their parents. Carl had mentioned our first little adventure and the fact that he used to teach skating and soon had volunteered himself to teach Ryo and Kento how to skate. Another fun day was had by all, but doing laps while trying to hold a 5 year old upright is a little more difficult than just being proud of your ability to keep yourself upright.

Skating was one of the most memorable things we've done this month, but other recent adventures, in chronological order, included my first Chinese New Year's dinner. We ate noodles for long life and fish for luck and I got to meet some of the great people Carl works with, including Stephanie, the organizer. She's from Toronto and a total blast to hang out with. And apparently her sister has a major role in the new Star Wars series. (Not important, just another random tidbit.)

After celebrating the Chinese New Year we welcomed spring in with a Japanese ritual called Setsubun. To start spring right in Japan you must cleanse your house of bad luck and welcome in good luck, a metaphysical spring cleaning. You do this by throwing beans out all of your doors to drive out the demons, while shouting, "Oni wa soto" (Get out devil (you probably shouldn't say this to departing house guests - Carl)). Then you welcome in good luck by throwing beans into your house while shouting, "Huku wa uchi" (In with good fortune). Then you must eat an entire maki roll in silence while facing the correct direction. It's not the most important holiday on the Japanese calendar, but it can't hurt to try. So I threw dried soybeans at Ca...the demon (kidding!). We ate maki rolls and then we vacuumed up the beans inside the house. At the very least it's a good incentive to clean.

We also visited Himeji castle, one of the few surviving (not reconstructed) feudal era castles in Japan. It's also one of the most beautiful. It's white walls are compared to egrets' wings rising above the city. It's also huge and right next to a large, lovely garden complex. However, I do recommend visiting in the spring if you're going to go. They didn't have central heating in feudal times. Actually they don't have central heating in modern Japan either, come to think of it.

We also got to visit with Joe for another long weekend. We went with Sanae and Chiaki to a huge amusement complex and participated in 2 of the most popular pastimes in Japan, UFO catching and pri-cla photos. UFO catchers are also known as claw machines at home and pri-cla photos are photo booth photos decorated with some computer graphic help. You can find both types of machines anywhere there's an arcade. Sometimes entire arcades contain just these 2 kind of machines. At any rate, a good time was had by all. However, these photos are a little harder to share with you as they are printed on tiny stickers, so you'll just have to use your imagination.

Questions, comments, concerns? I'm always available at colleen.bishop@gmail.com