Busy Few Days

 Tuesday and Wednesday are always busy; they are the days that I go and teach.

Once a month, Mikey and I do a volunteer class. It's a bit of a challenge for me as it's a large class, maybe 20 people all together. I prefer smaller classes, but Mikey is in his element! As I was going in yesterday, one of the ladies stopped me and asked if I could help with a document she had. The document was the death certificate of her great-uncle, who had passed away in the USA just over 100 years ago. My student said that she wanted to understand the death of her great-uncle and to be able to share it with younger family members.

It was rather difficult to read the document. She had a photocopy of the original death certificate; it was faded and looked like the original one had been folded many times, making creases through some of the important information. Also, trying to read the handwriting was difficult.

Between Mikey and me, we figured that the cause of death was some sort of pneumonia. He died in 1919, just after the Spanish Flu pandemic. I'm wondering if he had the Spanish Flu before and was therefore weaker than he would have been. Of course that is speculation. He worked as a labourer, maybe on the railroads. After the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, railroad companies turned to Japanese immigrants for labour. These immigrants were known as Issei and worked on the Northern Pacific and Great Northern railways, so he was in the right area.

I found it all very fascinating and a little bit sad. This young man had gone abroad to help his family out, but ended up dying alone in a foreign country! The student we were helping was so happy with the bit of information we could give her.

One of my evening students spent part of her summer holiday volunteering in the earthquake area. She's in the last year of high school. Her mother has some position with the city; I have no idea what, though. My student and her mother went to Costco to buy supplies, using money that had been donated. My student said that just one trip to Costco cost 150,000 yen, about £700; they made 3 trips to Costco. After getting the supplies, they drove down to the disaster area and spent time at a warehouse making care packages and then taking them to the different evacuation sites.

I think the experience was an eye-opener for my student. She lives near where we teach, so she experienced the earthquake, but there was no real damage here. The quake was M7.1 at the epicentre, but here about an M5- still big and scary, but buildings didn't come down. She was surprised to see some of the older houses that had been flattened. 

Some of the photos from my student.

She was amazed at the resilience of the people there and the "shikata ni" no choice attitude. Even while enduring life in evacuation places, with no real cooling system, needing a shower and some privacy, people were still rather cheerful and very grateful for the small care packages they received.

I told my student that this was the closest I've been to a natural disaster, and I don't want to get any closer.

As much as I enjoy my couple of days of teaching, I'm glad that it isn't every day, like before.

Just those two days have left me feeling tired; also, the fact that I got hit with very bad allergies yesterday doesn't help at all. Also, the heat hasn't broken here at all! Every day is over 35℃; that's hot. The humidity isn't too high, which helps!

Another Earthquake!

 The big earthquake we had at the end of last month was south of Kumamoto City, about a 2-hour drive south of here. Because it was a big quake- M7.1 at the epicentre and an M5 here- we have had aftershocks; most are small, but still a nerve-racking experience!

This morning, however, there was an earthquake just an hour's drive north of here. 

This one wasn't that big, M4.4, but rather shallow. Where we were was an M1; where Hannah lives, an M2.

This is worrying. The area where the earthquake was this morning is part of another fault line that runs through a densely populated area. Japan is 70% mountains, so cities were built wherever possible. At least with more modern buildings, the risk is minimised. Even though earthquakes freak me out, even the small ones, I would rather be in Japan than any other country that experiences earthquakes! Just looking at what happened in Colombia and Indonesia, which experienced massive earthquakes after the Kumamoto quake. Some houses came down in Kumamoto, but they were older buildings that hadn't been renovated up to the latest building codes.

I know that these quakes are going to keep happening, that it takes time for the faults to settle down. I also know that the pressure builds again until another quake releases the pressure. I understand the basic science behind what is happening; I just wish it wouldn't!

I'm trying not to think about it too much; if I do, I become paralysed with fear. My kids keep telling me that there is nothing you can do about it; if an earthquake is going to hit, it's going to hit. Sitting and worrying doesn't change that!

Instead, I'm trying to figure out why I haven't sold any T-shirts as yet.

Here are a couple of my latest designs!

These were designed with free AI, but I think I might have to pay for an AI service. Just to make the bottom T-shirt took almost an hour! I knew what I wanted but had a hard time explaining it to AI. I should learn to draw, might make things easier! 

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good AI service that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?

David's Birthday

 Today is David's birthday; it's also the Obon holiday, one of the main holidays in Japan.

Obon is Japan's summer festival when families welcome the spirits of their ancestors back for a few days, usually between August 13 and 16. A lot of people return to their home town to visit relatives and their ancestral graves.

When David was young, we had to visit my mother-in-law's house for lunch. The other relatives would come; we would have a nice lunch together, but I always wanted to leave early so we could celebrate David's birthday. I felt sad that David had to share his special day. My mother-in-law was all about showing off; she would spend a fortune on the lunch and special decorations but never gave David a present! I wanted the day to be about David, as the other kids' birthdays were just about them. I found out recently that David thought all the fuss was for him and didn't understand why we didn't go to my mother-in-law's house for the other kids' birthdays!

A few photos of David through the years.

He broke both of his arms, 6 months apart!

On one of our trips to the UK.

With Hisao

With Hisao, Mikey and Christopher.

With Fluffy.

One problem with it being Obon is that buying sushi, David's favourite food, is hard. If you don't order it or go to the store very early, you aren't going to get any. One tradition I try to stick to is getting the birthday person's favourite lunch!

This year I decided that going to Costco would be the best. I thought I could get sushi and something else for lunch.

Big mistake. I did get a lot of good food, but it was crazy busy! Busier than Christmas! Just trying to navigate with the massive trolleys took a toll on me! 

In the end, I couldn't get any sushi; the queue for the sushi was so long, I overheard one woman say that she had to wait 20 minutes to get sushi! In the end, I got a nice pack of sashimi! Plus pizza, cooked chicken, some bacon, tomato wraps and salad.

Nice lunch

We ate, laughed and celebrated!

I'm glad that we could all be together for David's birthday. I don't know how many more times we will be together like this. 

It's been a nice break this week: no lessons at the community centre, having Hannah here. Tomorrow, Hannah goes back to her apartment. Things will be back to normal for a while!

New Kitchen Cabinet

 Again, new to me!

On impulse, David, Hannah and I dropped into a recycle shop, one of the chain-store type. I've seen branches in most cities in northern Kyushu; I don't know if they have branches nationwide. The name of the store is 2nd Street; I think it's a good name for a recycle shop.

I find that the goods there are usually expensive; some things are cheaper new. But when they have a sale, the prices are very good! Hannah always does well on their sales!

Today Hannah picked up a very nice blouse for just 500 yen, about £2!

David and I had a look at the furniture. I wanted to buy a better cupboard for the kitchen. There were some lovely pieces! We spent ages debating what to buy, what would fit in the area that we were thinking of and what would be big enough for everything that we have!

I really didn't want to spend a lot of money, as I hope to remodel the kitchen, so this would just be something temporary. This is the unit we went with in the end.

The plastic box has flour, pasta and cornstarch in it; there wasn't enough room in the cupboard for all that. I would love to get a nice bread bin but that can wait a bit.

It cost 5,000 yen, about £23. I checked on line, new it costs about 3,2000 yen, about £150. I think I got a good bargain. 

Of course, Fluffy had to inspect it; it passed her test!

Inspector Fluffy.

Tomorrow is David's birthday. I'm going to Costco to buy something nice for lunch! Since everyone is here, we can celebrate both David's and my birthday at the same time!

But I'm wondering if I want to celebrate my birthday! I think I'm getting too old to celebrate birthdays!

Summer Fatigue.....Natsubate

 I've been feeling awful for the past couple of days. Extremely tired, no appetite, nausea and dizzy. Looks like I have summer fatigue, natsubate in Japanese.

Yesterday Hannah and I met some friends for lunch; that was nice, just chatting and laughing, but I had no appetite. I ordered a sandwich but couldn't eat all of it. I bought it home but just ate the chicken filling! Last night was rather cool, which meant the cats had the energy to fight all night! I fell asleep at 4:30; my alarm went off at 5 o'clock.

Today I'm exhausted; I couldn't eat lunch, and I couldn't get all the chores I planned to do either. I just feel so blah; I can't focus on reading or even watch TV! Just writing these few sentences has taken ages as I've made so many mistakes!

I'm rather upset with myself, as it has suddenly gone a bit cooler. Today was just 33℃. Still hot but a lot better than last week when the tempretures were hovering around 40℃.  I know that at 33℃ I can actually work away from the air conditioner for a while; I planned on cleaning the corridor floor but never got round to it.

Never mind, this will pass, and my floors will still need cleaning!

How do people survive without air conditioning? I've been running mine 24/7 recently! I don't want to see my electric bill!

Just a few photos Hannah took last week: a beautiful sunset.

I think she took these on her way here!

I'm going to fight with AI; I'm still trying to design some T-shirts. Some of the designs I've made are really nice, but they don't look good on T-shirts. I'm wondering if I can make digital products for people to download and print themselves!

I think this would make a cute card or small wall poster!

More to study!

Why Is It So Hard?

 My health challenge got derailed, big time!

I know what to eat, I know what exercises suit my body, and I can do, but........!!!!

It all feels too hard!

It's August 9th today; out of those nine days, I've been able to stick to my plan maybe 4 days! The other days I'm eating the wrong things; white bread and snack bread are my big downfall, but I'm not eating that much. I think I'm suffering from natsubate, summer fatigue. I have very little energy; all I want to do is sit and watch TV, not good at all. My appetite is low, but I want all the things I shouldn't have: a sandwich, snack bread or ice cream; none of these is good for me.

Also, it's hard to get energy to cook or prepare meals. Even with the air conditioner, I just can't be bothered to prepare something for myself. I make breakfast and obento. I make lunch for whoever is at home, but dinner is usually self-service; whoever is here gets their own dinner, usually leftovers. If I'm making for others, then it's easy to make something for myself, but if it's just me, then I grab whatever is easy!

As for exercise, I try most days, at least to do some stretching. At the moment, I'm in a lot of pain because of a herniated disc in my neck. I've been spending hours on my computer making T-shirt designs, but that has put a lot of strain on my neck! I've been wearing my collar a lot to support my neck; it helps, but I do need to go to a doctor or chiropractor. I hope to go after next week!

I need to get my act together! I need to lose this weight and feel better in myself!

I want to shop for nice clothes, but the only place I can buy anything is online, which is alright. I love going shopping with Hannah and seeing her try on different outfits. I want to do that again!!!

I was looking for some photos to put on! I realised that since having Hannah, 24 years ago, I haven't been under 90 kg! Getting under that would be a big achievement!

I'm being brave!

This is me at my highest weight, about 110kg!

I can never get back to that; I couldn't walk for more than 5 minutes without being in pain!

Back to the plan!!!

Any tips?

Shopping

This morning I decided to go shopping in a small town which is in the opposite direction from where I usually shop. Even though it's hot, being in the car with the air conditioner blasting made for a nice ride.

Where I usually shop is toward the city and the built-up area; this was toward the countryside. Hannah was with us, so I asked her to take some video.

Part of the drive is through a small town, where some of the buildings come right up to the road; there's no pavement, and some places don't have any front garden or space between the building and the road. I always feel that it's a bit scary to step out of a building right onto the road. 

I want to get a video of the view. This is the road that runs off from the road we are on. I never think that our elevation is so high until I see the view. When we drive up here, it doesn't feel as if the road is going uphill; maybe if I walked it, I would feel it more!

I went for basic groceries; we are always running short on something! David shops on his way home, but I prefer to buy fresh vegetables myself. Recently, there hasn't been a lot of lettuce in the shops; I wonder why?

On the way home, we stopped at a recyle shop. Most recyle shops in Japan are like chain stores; every city has the same ones. I like to find smaller, unique ones, which is what we found today. I'm looking for a kitchen cabinet. I've seen some lovely ones, but they are very expensive. I'm hoping to eventually be able to completely remodel the kitchen, so I only need something for the next year or so; therefore, I don't want to spend a fortune on a new cabinet. 

The place we stopped at didn't have what I wanted but did have a lot of lovely stuff, a real mix of things! Old rotary phones, different Japanese dolls, even a Japanese sword, but I think it was a replica. I picked up some lovely towels, 2 big bath towels and a set of dish clothes for 300 yen, about £1. They are all good quality too. In Japan, towel sets are given as gifts; they are expensive and very good quality. I think that people get a lot of these gifts and never use them. I remember when my kids were little, they all got sick at the same time. I was telling one of my students that I was running out of towels. I kept washing them, but because of the weather, they didn't dry quickly! The next week she came with a load of really nice gift towels; she said that she had so many that she would never get round to using them all! They were such good quality that we used them constantly for about 20 years before they got holes in them!

The towels I bought.

While I was out, Christopher made lunch.

Cold soba.

He made cold soba with an unusual dipping soup, a duck-flavoured soup. The soup had a lovely smoky taste. I really enjoyed this lunch! Christopher had eaten this soba with his friends once and found the noodles and soup at Costco, so he bought them! I think in the winter this would be nice as hot soba!