Just Thinking

 Yesterday, when I changed over the chest of drawers, I threw out a few things. Not a lot, about one trash bag full, clothes that were falling to pieces, some that no longer fit, just trash really. But it wasn't easy! For example, I threw out a sweater that I bought about 15 years ago. I've only worn it a couple of times because it's not my style, wide neck, off-the-shoulder type. I got it from a recycle store, so not expensive, no real sentimental feelings toward it either, but I just haven't been able to throw it out!

Why? I can understand keeping things that have sentimental value. I have a couple of things that belonged to my Mom and Hisao, they comfort me and bring back memories. I also have a couple of baby clothes from each of my kids, again, comfort and memories. The same with photos and journals that I keep, I like looking back, remembering things, places I went, people I knew. Now that the kids are adults, I can tell them stories of their childhood. I feel that kind of family history is important!  

Why do I find it hard to throw out things that I don't need, aren't useful and are not even worth keeping? Is it the fear that I won't be able to buy things? Is it the fear of not having things? I know that when I do get the courage to purge myself of unnecessary stuff, I feel a lot better. I feel lighter, more at ease. Getting there, however, is hard. Hannah and David are good at helping me when I need to declutter.

Once I was sorting out the teaching materials I had. I had built up a library of books, CDs and prints. I like that I had a choice of textbooks so I could cater to the students' individual needs, but I always went back to using the same textbook.  I pulled books off the shelves, making two piles: keep or trash. The keep pile was getting very high! Hannah asked why I was keeping certain books, I told her that the grammar points were good or the dialogues were useful. She pointed out that the information was out of date. In one book, it had the question "Who is she/he?" with photos of Princess Diana and Michael Jackson; most kids wouldn't know who they are. Another book had a picture of cassette tapes, asking how many? Again, kids wouldn't know what cassette tapes are. With Hannah's help, I managed to throw out a load of books, making the room look a lot better.

The same with David. Before we moved here, we cleaned out the storage place. I had kept everything that I wasn't using, about 34 years of stuff, from baby clothes to school textbooks and loads of broken gadgets. David would pick up something and ask why are you keeping this. So much trash. It broke my heart, but I realised that the only value was sentiment, not usefulness! I kept a few things, but most were thrown out.

I think I need to learn how to do this by myself. I don't like the feeling of being afraid of letting things go. With spring starting, it's a good chance to go through the things that I have and do another good purge of trash. This house is too small, half the size of the last house. I don't really have space just to keep things. 

I can do this! I'll just have to remind myself every day!

A photo of the mountains from the other morning. It's been raining all day today, which is good as the winter has been very dry and the reservoirs were getting low!

Misty mountains.

A New Chest Of Drawers

 Did I mention that the chest of drawers in my bedroom stopped opening? About a month ago, the bottom three drawers got stuck. David managed to get them out, but they wouldn't go back in. So two of the drawers have sat near the door to my room. The cats liked to get in the top one!

Sam is in my drawer.

Maybe I could have coped with the drawers that were left, but they were getting harder and harder to open. The other day, it took 20 minutes to open one drawer. 

My old chest of drawers.

I remembered that there are two nice sets of drawers in the storage room. I asked David to check them out, which he did. One was still good, the other one was not really useful, with very shallow drawers and smelled a bit musty. 

Today, David said that he and Mikey could bring the good set of drawers down. I'm glad I have these muscle men to help me out; there's no way I could have gotten the drawers down the very steep stairs in the storage place.

While I was making lunch, they got the drawers down and gave them a good cleaning. I thought that just changing clothes from one set of drawers to another would take a few minutes. I didn't anticipate David's help.

The top part of the old drawers I had some books, I always seem to have more books than anything else. I had put them up there to keep them away from the cats.  The new set of drawers doesn't have a cupboard space on top, so what to do with the books?

David opened the closet that I have and decided to reorganise it, to make space for my books. Great idea. The only problem was that the closet had become a dumping ground for clean laundry! Weeks of laundry that nobody had claimed was just shoved in there.

David pulled out a lot of the laundry, some of the boxes and files that were in there. Let's just say my room was a disaster!

Disaster!

Hannah called while we were doing this. I couldn't find my phone! I sent her these photos. She understood why I didn't answer!

Even though I hadn't planned to do this today, I'm glad we did. I managed to fill up a big bag of trash, things that I'm just hanging onto for the sake of hanging onto them. I found things that I thought were lost, some tops that should fit me now. Also, moving the old drawers revealed mould that had been growing behind them. David wiped the walls down with bleach. There is still a lot to do, but we made a good start!

My new drawers

The teddy bear is Hannah's. I don't know why it's in my room.

The baskets on the floor are clothes that belong to Christopher and Mikey; they'll have to put them away later, plus two baskets of stuff I'm throwing out!

I think today was a good start to March!

February

 I don't really like February. The weather is usually very cold, sometimes we even get snow. The excitement of the new year has worn off, and the energy of spring hasn't really started.

I spent most of February making plans. I really want to start an English school here. I tried to clean out the tatami room and tried to fix the fusuma doors. The vinyl flooring cover is too small so I'll have to try to wash the carpet; at least it's good exercise. Get the entrance, inside and outside cleaned again. I think it's time to start making lists for March!

I didn't really study Japanese during February; I will need to do that in March. I think I need to make a schedule and stick to it.

Also, my diet didn't really restart after stopping over the holidays! My weight hasn't gone up, but it hasn't gone down either. I guess staying the same is alright! No choice!

The highlight of the month was the trip to Fukuoka Art Museum. I really enjoyed that day out. Just getting out of the house and seeing somewhere different really helps. 

My plans for March are to get the room for teaching set up, sort out the teaching materials and put out leaflets. April starts the new school year, so it's a good chance to get students.

I'm going to start pilates, I want to do everyday but not very confident about Tuesday and Wednesday when I'm out most of the day. Go back to eating less carbs and hopefully drop some weight.

Clean the garden a bit more, maybe plant something, but haven't decided what as yet. 

At the end of March, I have a 3-day, 2-night trip with Hannah. We are going to Mojiko and Shimonoseki. Both places have a lot of historical sites to visit. 

Let's hope March will be a good month.

A few more photos from our trip to Fukuoka.

Some kind of event, but I don't know what, the music was good!

Near the museum, maybe a former prime minister.

The massive tori gate

NHK studios

Weather

 I'm amazed at how the weather affects me.

I don't know if it's because of my age or because of this house. When it's very hot or very cold, I have a hard time moving about this house because the only room I can keep cool or warm is my room!

This week, the weather has been strange. Sunday and Monday, it was like spring, warm, sunny weather. Monday, it got up to 22°C. Tuesday and Wednesday was back to winter weather, not getting over 10°C. Thursday saw rain starting, which has continued through today!

My mood and energy levels have followed the same pattern, Sunday and Monday, happy, cleaning, thinking about decluttering again, and moving furniture. Tuesday and Wednesday back to hibernation mode, a bit grumpy because I was cold and my big toe hurt! Yesterday was sheer determination to get the tatami room sorted to start teaching. Today, totally miserable with headaches and, of course, allergies have kicked in. 

When either Christopher or David don't have work, I try to get bigger jobs done around the house. They have more strength and energy than I do! That's one of the reasons I pushed to do the tatami room yesterday, because David didn't have work the night before. Tomorrow, Christopher doesn't have work, so I plan to do some outside work (if the rain stops) and tidy the storage room.

 I have to push next month to really get the room ready to start teaching. It's about 80% done. I would love to get some nice bookshelves, but that might have to wait! David is planning to put out leaflets from next month. I hope by April we will have a few students here, we really need to make money to do this house, no more mopping in bed!

I have a plan. Can I stick to it?

I think the cats have a good life!

Lounge around all day, the only thing they have to do is look cute!

DIY....

 Isn't as easy as it looks!

The other week, we bought some paper to replace the covering on the fusuma doors. These are the doors to the room we will use for teaching, the doors that the cats have destroyed. 

Fusuma doors

These doors are really bad; they were already bad before the cats got to them, but now they're even worse.

I thought it would just be a case of taking off the ripped part and putting on the new paper, but of course, it wasn't that easy.  David took the one door down, got the new paper, and then realised that there were some tools we needed. 

We ran out to the store where we had bought the paper, Nafco. I love this store, so many wonderful products for the home and garden, but no money to buy everything I want.

We found the tools alright, and we bought a new light for the room as well.

The old light.

The new light

Makes a lot of difference in the room, a lot brighter!

We also got lucky with a floor covering that I've been looking for. At the moment, we have an old green carpet over the tatami mats. That carpet is about 60 years old and, like me, is showing its age. I've tried to clean it, but it just doesn't look good. While we were in the store, we found a sale for a vinyl floor mat that will be a lot easier to keep clean! Once we have it laid, I'll take some photos. I'm really happy about that, as I was stressing about the old carpet!

When we got back, we had another go at changing the fusuma paper. I say we, but David did most of the work, with some help from the cats!

Frodo is making sure David is doing it tight

The edge of the door has a frame. That frame has to come off to put the new paper on. The frame was held in place with these long, thin nails. It took ages to get the frame off.

 

David finally got the frame off, took over 30 minutes. Putting the new paper on wasn't easy either! We ended up with all wrinkles on it. David said it matched my face!

Wrinkly door.

The paper isn't that expensive, and now that David knows what to do, he can try again! Or we could hire someone who knows what they are doing!

I had a lovely surprise yesterday. I received a package from a friend, a really lovely book on pilates!

My new book

I never thought of doing pilates, but just looking through this book, I think there are some exercises I can start with, as I get better, I can try some of the more difficult ones.

I've known this lady for years; she was one of the first foreigners I met here. Every day, she sends videos about exercise or healthy living. I try some of the exercises, and the videos on healthy living give me a lot to think about!

I'm glad that we are making some progress on the one room. It gives me hope that we can make this house nice and more livable!

Exhausted

 I know my health isn't great, but the past few weeks I've been a lot more tired than usual.

Just one day out has left me feeling extremely low for the whole week. I know the added stress of Dad being in the hospital hasn't helped, but surely I shouldn't be this bad!

I've been trying to figure out what is wrong, but I have no idea. I'm trying to lose weight again, so I try not to have carbs in the morning and evening, for those meals I focus on low fat protien and vegetables. I'm craving sweets like crazy, but there's nowhere I can walk to buy anything. The only time we have any snacks in the house is when Hannah visits. If I want something sweet, I have to make something! This week I made a Victoria Sponge, but I only had one very small slice!

Victoria Sponge

I'm still trying to exercise, this week the weather has been nice, so I've been walking around the garden, doing a few things out there, but not as much as I should do!

I'm on meds for high blood pressure, but my readings are low, maybe too low. This morning was 102/70. Maybe I need to change my blood pressure meds. 

Maybe this feeling of exhaustion is more mental and has to do with all the stress I feel. I try to write down things at night before I go to bed, making lists, writing my journal, anything to get the thoughts out of my head. Some nights it works and I can fall asleep alright, but I still don't sleep all night. Some nights, I toss and turn thinking about things. Most nights, I sleep about 3 hours, then wake up and have a hard time falling back to sleep. Sunday night/Monday morning was awful! I fell asleep about midnight, woke up at 1 am, then didn't sleep until 4:30 am. My alarm went off at 5am! About one and a half hours of sleep! Thankfully, most nights aren't that bad.

One thing I need to get out of the habit of doing is reading on my Kindle late at night. I think the blue screen doesn't help. Maybe I should switch my late-night reading to real books; I still have plenty, keep my Kindle for earlier in the day! Also, I should turn the TV off earlier.

I'll try that for the rest of this month and see if it helps. I need to build better sleep habits, stop dozing in the day, stay up when I get up would help as well. I hope that as the weather gets a bit warmer, it will be easier to stay awake after 5am! Try to keep active during the day so I can sleep at night! 

I have an appointment on March 3rd to see my doctor about my diabetes and high blood pressure, maybe ask to change my meds. There's so much I want to do, but I never have enough energy. Is this part of ageing or just me being tired?

The Japanese Emperor's Birthday

Today is another public holiday, it's the Emperor's birthday.  It's known as Tenno Tanjobi (天皇誕生日). It's a celebration to honour Emperor Naruhito.

The Emperor's Birthday is one of the few times people can enter the inner grounds of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Visitors gather to wave flags and listen to the Emperor deliver greetings from the palace balcony.

The holiday is tied to the reigning emperor; the date changes when a new emperor ascends to the throne. When Emperor Naruhito succeeded Emperor Akihito in 2019, the holiday moved from December 23rd to February 23rd. I liked having December 23rd as a national holiday, an extra day to celebrate Christmas.

When Emperor Naruhito ascended to the throne, not only did the official birthday holiday change, but the era changed.

Japan uses the Western (Gregorian) calendar and the traditional Japanese era system, known as gengo (元号) or wareki (和暦). In this system, each emperor's reign defines a new era. The first year of an era is called gan-nen(元年), followed by year 2, 3, etc. We are now in Reiwa 8. This system is used on government forms, driver's licenses, tax documents, and even some business paperwork. At the hospital I go to, I'm asked to verify my ID by stating my date of birth, which is Showa 37, 1962. The problem is that I never remember it! I had to look up the year to make sure I got it right!

Recent eras are Showa (1926-1989), Heisei (1989-2019), and now Reiwa (2019-present).

A few years ago, I visited a museum that had these jars displayed.

The left hand one says the last air of the Heisei era, the right hand one says the first air of the Reiwa period.

Even though most people use the Western calendar today, the era calendar remains culturally significant today. The system connects modern Japan with centuries of tradition. It reminds people that each era marks a new chapter in the nation's story.

Just Another This And That Post

 My brother has been updating me on Dad's situation.

The first update was at 11am, Japan time, which was 12 hours after the fall. Dad was sitting up waiting for results from blood tests and X-rays.  At 9:30 the same evening, they had moved Dad to an Acute Medical Unit (AMU). At least there, he had a bed; he was waiting on a cardiologist to see him. This morning at 8:30 am, he was moved to post-trauma care for cardiology. In between all these moves, they have lost Dad's phone!

I'm honestly shocked at how awful the situation is in the UK for medical care. I've seen the headlines, but I  know that headlines are many times are exaggerations, just take the worst case and make it look like it's the norm. But maybe there is some truth in the situation with the National Health Service. Maybe it's time to really look at the whole institution and start again. Maybe looking at countries that have good health services and see what can be adapted to the UK.  When the NHS started, just after the war, it really helped those who were poor to have access to doctors and hospitals. Before, only those who were wealthy could afford health care. It looks like it's back to that situation again: those with money can go private, everyone else has to struggle through an underfunded and understaffed institution.

I really hope Dad will be alright! It's so hard being here, but I have no way to get to the UK. Also, I'm not sure what I could do there! I'm glad that my brother is taking care!

Here we are dealing with dentists! Both Christopher and David have had problems with their teeth! Christopher is having a root canal done; it takes at least 7 to 8 appointments to get it finished. David had a tooth extracted last Tuesday; he's been in pain with it since then!  Today's lunch was curry, nothing hard, but he couldn't eat properly! He called the dentist, who told him to come in right away! It looks like the cavity was infected. They gave him a local anaesthetic and cleaned out the area. He came back with pain meds and antibiotics. David said that he was glad that he lived in Japan, at least he didn't have to wait to see the dentist!

David being dsft with the cats!

Even though it's still February, the weather is very nice, more like spring.

We have a load of blossoms on the front of the property. I think they are plum blossoms.

These photos are from last week, but they still look good today!

Very beautiful.

I decided to go out for a bit; the garden really needs doing, and I seem to have the most free time! I picked up some of the trash that was lying around. I got Christopher to move some of the branches that had been cut down! Hopefully, we can burn some of them next week!

I really have to go out every day, just do a bit at a time! I hope the nice weather continues, but the forecast is for rain next week!

England's National Health Service

When I arrived in Japan in the early 1990s, I was surprised to find out that health care wasn't free.

Part of that was my own naive thinking. Even though I had spent some time in the USA, where health care is very expensive, I had never really thought about paying for health care in Japan.

Between the two extremes of the USA system, where if you don't have good insurance, getting sick or injured can put you in debt and the free services in England, I've found the system in Japan is a good middle ground.

We pay into the national health insurance. The amount that you have to pay depends on your income. At the moment, my income is very low, about 20,000 yen a month, £100, so I pay 2,000 yen, £10 pounds a month. At the hospital or dentist, I have to pay 30% of the bill.

A few times when the bill has been more than I can pay, I've talked to the accounts office and set up a monthly payment. I did this when my mother-in-law was in the hospital for almost a year. When I was given the bill, I told them that I couldn't pay and asked for help.

The services here are good and quick. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I joined an online support group based in the UK. There are support groups here, but I didn't think I could communicate or ask questions in Japanese. Within a month, I had been diagnosed, had a lot of tests done, had my teeth checked, had a mastectomy and was back home. One lady in that group was diagnosed at the same time and was still waiting for follow-up tests! This was pre Covid.

The reason I'm writing this and why this is on my mind is that my Dad called last night, at about 11 pm, Japan time.

He had fallen down while he was out shopping. One staff member in a building society ( similar to a bank, but is owned by the customers, not shareholders, they deal with loans and mortgages) saw him, and helped him into the shop where he could wait for the ambulance to arrive. My Dad didn't have his hearing aid, so the lady was relaying the information to the paramedics. When she had finished doing that she spoke to me, telling me that she hadn't seen my Dad fall but had found him on the floor. She then said that the paramedics would arrive in about an hour!

I was shocked; this isn't a remote area, and it's not in the middle of nowhere. The nearest hospital with an A&E (accident and emergency room) is a 20-minute drive away, with sirens and lights, making it about 10 minutes away.

After I finished talking to Dad, I called my brother and asked him to check on Dad. My brother doesn't live near, but nearer than me, at least in the same country. I told him about the one-hour wait, he said that it is quick; sometimes you can wait anywhere from 4 to 8 hours.  I'm wondering what if it's a fatal injury, a heart attack or stroke, do you still need to wait for hours to get help?

We live in the middle of nowhere, the nearest hospital is over half an hour's drive away, but when David collapsed, an ambulance arrived within 10 minutes. 

At 11am, Japan time, my brother sent me a message saying that Dad was waiting for X-rays and blood tests. That's 12 hours since the accident! I can't imagine waiting that long!

I struggle with being in Japan, basically language and culture barriers, some of which are in my mind and not real. But after this, I'm glad to be here, at least the health service here is quick and thorough. There are long waiting times in bigger hospitals, but not 12 hours! The longest I've had to wait was about 3 hours. 

I've seen news articles about the problems with the NHS, but I always thought they were exaggerated, but maybe not!

I'm waiting to see how my Dad is, why he fell, this is the second time this year. I guess at 88 these things are going to happen, but it's a worry!

Dad, nine years ago!

Last Part of Of Our Trip

 I didn't have a chance to write yesterday, just very busy with classes!

After Burger King, we got the bus back to Tenjin Station.  Hannah wanted to go to Bookoff, a recycle bookstore, near the station. She is always looking for books to help with her study and research. 

As always, Google Maps and reality were different.  The few-minute walk from the bus stop to Bookoff was more like 15 minutes. One problem was the crowds, just so many people, plus it started to rain. A lot of people with umbrellas meant dodging around or getting hit by an umbrella, also there were a few people riding bikes on the pavement! I got hit twice by bikes!

I am really impressed by the street art in this area. We cut through an arcade to get to Bookoff. There were some interesting statues. The arcade reminded me of the UK.

Hippos

I don't know what this is, but it's interesting.

The arcade

Then there's a cubed tree, Hannah said it's a LEGO tree!

Cubed tree.

We finally got to Bookoff. I was tired and hot. Outside was very cold, but inside was hot. Fortunately, there was a bench near the entrance, I sat there and had some water. Christopher and Hannah went to have a look around.  Hannah found a few books that she bought; I'm not sure what Christopher bought.

After that, we were all rather tired, a bit wet and cold. It was time to head back home. 

We made our way back to the station. There are only 2 platforms, so finding the right one was easy! We usually use the JR train, which goes to Hakata Station, which has 14 platforms, including the Shinkansen platforms. Where we usually get lost!

We used the local train to get back. We could get seats! 

We got back to Kurume but had just missed the bus. We had an hour to wait, but I was too tired to walk around anymore, so we went to Mr Donuts to get a little something!

A little treat!

We got back home about 7 o'clock. 

I had a great day, but it was a lot of walking for me, over 10,000 steps!

I'm looking forward to more adventures like this! I just need more money to make them happen!

A Trip To Fukuoka Art Museum (Part 3)

 I asked Hannah to find a place for lunch before we went on Saturday. I know that trying to find a place when we are out ends up with a lot more walking! She found a Burger King nearby. Plus a Cat Bookshop. Of course, we had to check out the Cat Bookshop.

To get to the bookshop, we had to meander through a nice little neighbourhood, full of quaint houses, little shops and cafes.

There weren't many cars, but a lot of foot traffic.

One of the little alleyways.

A cafe.

A Turkish cafe.

A sign for the Cat Bookshop

The alleyway where the bookshop is.

The Cat Bookshop.

On the wall outside the bookshop.

We couldn't take photos inside, which is a shame. I was surprised at the number of books available on cats. Most were in Japanese, a few English ones and a couple of them in other European languages. I guess cats are popular worldwide.

Christopher bought me a book. I'll post about it later.

After the Cat Bookshop, we walked another 10 minutes to find Burger King. 

This sign was on the door.

Funny!

Burger King was packed. It was lunch time, and it looked like there were a lot of orders for the Uber Eats delivery service. 

We had to wait for about 20 minutes, which I was very happy about, a chance to sit down for a bit!

Lunch

I had a simple set, Christopher and Hannah had a bigger set meal. Not only a burger and fries, but chicken nuggets and apple pie as well!

While we were waiting for our meal, Hannah showed me what she had bought at the museum.

How to write hieroglyphics and a soft toy

After lunch, we went back to the station to do some shopping. I'll try to write that up over the next couple of days. I have to make lunch now!

A Trip To Fukuoka Art Museum (Part 2)

 One thing that I like about Japan is the way the old and the new go together seamlessly.

Opposite the Fukuoka Art Museum is a shrine with a stunning tori gate. This shrine was founded in 1749. Next door is the NHK broadcasting studio, which was built in 1992.

The tori gate

The NHK building

In the top photo, you can just catch a glimpse of the building through the trees on the right. It shouldn't work, but somehow it does!

We finally made it to the museum.

The exhibit we went to see.

Interesting sculpture outside the museum

The museum is also a newer building. It was built in 1979 but has undergone many renovations; the last one was in 2019.

One thing I was very happy to find was a place to sit down. Walking is still hard on my back and legs (but easier than a year ago!), having somewhere to sit for a few minutes really helps!

It was 2000 yen to enter, about £10, not too bad!

We could take photos of the exhibits, no flash photos, though, so some photos are a bit dark.

The hair on this piece is amazing; it looked really textured.

This made me smile.

The colours don't show up well in the photo, but they were very vivid.

Of course, we found a cat.

Egyptian cat.

A model of an Egyptian Temple.

An Eygptian Mummy, you can still see a bit of the cloth.

We were able to get a photo there as well.

Hannah, me and Christopher.

We spent over an hour looking around. It was very good, very well laid out. It was very busy, though, but not crazy!

We left the museum to find a cat bookshop and some lunch. 

That will have to wait until the next post. I'm having problems with pop-ups. I've tried many things to stop them, but they just keep coming. I'll have to get some help later.