Ten Years Ago

 This week, 10 years ago, the Kumamoto Earthquake happened.

I can't believe it's 10 years, feels like just a couple of years ago.

I wrote about it here: Jackie's Japan Journal: EARTHQUAKE

I remember thinking that this was the closest I had been to a large earthquake,the epicentre was about 2 hours drive from where we lived and I don't want to get any closer.

I've been through typhoons and thunderstorms that were scary, but an earthquake is on a whole different level of fear, at least for me.

With weather disasters, you can track the storm's location and prepare. With an earthquake, it just happens, no warning, sometimes the phone alert will go off, but that is only a few seconds before the quake hits. The closest weather disaster like that is a tornado. 

One thing I want to know is how the Japanese people keep so calm when these disasters happen.

I remember watching the news, the station was reporting on one area that was badly hit, showing some of the damage to the roads and buildings. This was a live report. During the report, there was an aftershock; the camera panned to the entrance of the shopping mall. People were walking out very calmly, parents were reassuring their kids, and staff were helping older customers who weren't steady on their feet. No screaming, no hysterics, just moving to safety.  

Another scene I remember was of a line of people that had to evacuate, this was the morning after the big quake, M7 at the epicentre. They were waiting to get a riceball and some tea. Again, everyone was very calm, the old ladies stood talking like this was an everyday occurrence. There was no pushing, no demanding special treatment.

My reaction was an overreaction. I felt so vulnerable. Maybe because it was just a few years after Hisao died, maybe it was because I had never experienced anything that terrifying before, maybe it was because I felt that the safety of my kids depended on me. Maybe a bit of everything. One of the first things I did was to check the price of tickets back to the UK! I knew I couldn't go back, but I wanted an option! 

Since then, we've had a few jolts, nothing that bad though. The past couple of months, there has been a swarm of small earthquakes south of where Hannah lives. Hannah calls me to see if we felt the earthquake, but usually we don't!  

One thing in Japan is that there is a lot of awareness of earthquakes. From a young age, children are taught what to do in case of an earthquake; it is drilled into them. One thing they are told is to follow instructions and not panic. I think I need this training!

I hope I never go through another earthquake like that!

I talk to the mountain that we are at the base of, I ask it not to fall on us! I worry a lot about landslides caused by rainstorms or earthquakes.

The mountain.

I know it looks faraway but a road that runs parrell to here was inundated by a landslide a few years ago. If I hadn't seen that maybe I wouldn't worry so much!

The Garden.....Again

 It has been raining continuously for the past few days. Not heavy downpours, just constant, non-stop rain.

This area has needed this rain; actually, more rain would help. The winter was very dry, with very little rain and almost no snow, even in the mountains. Some of the dams that serve the area are very low, about 30% of capacity! I don't know if a few days of rain helped, but at least the fields and gardens got watered.

This was on Tuesday, going to teach. The clouds were so low that you couldn't see the mountains!

Today, however, the sun is shining, the temperature is just right at 22℃, and the garden is coming alive again.

It's still a mess. We need to get out and really pull the weeds and start to plant a few things. But even with the weeds, the bushes and trees look beautiful.

These flowers are so beautiful; the tree is full of them. They are Japanese snowball flowers, I think.

I'm not good with flower, tree or shrub names, I just know what I like!

This is just outside my window.

The last of the cherry blossoms!

Another beautiful azalea.

I took a little video. The first bush in the videos is the blueberry bush; it's really blooming. I hope that we can get some fruit this summer. When it's really hot, I love to mix yoghurt and blueberries, then put them in the freezer as a nice cool snack.

I sat outside for a bit, just enjoying the sun and the warm breeze, listening to the birds in the distance. I was joined by this little guy.

A new friend?

I don't like insects, but I'm trying to appreciate their place in the ecosystem. I told him to stay outside, where he'll be safe! 

David bought a couple of pumpkin plants, which are sitting on my windowsill. I hope we can plant them out soon.

We are going to the home centre tomorrow, so I might pick up a couple more little plants to try. 

David's Business Ideas

 David has been working at an Internet Cafe, doing the night shift for a few years now. He took the night shift as it pays a bit more. When we lived in the other city, it took him just a few minutes on his bike to commute. Now he has to drive between 40 to 50 minutes, one way. This is getting to him; he's constantly tired. He's been looking for local jobs; there are a few, but the wages are very low, and there is no chance of advancing. Most are minimum wage, about 990 yen, about £4 an hour; it's not worth the effort. By the time he pays tax, health insurance, work insurance, etc., his take-home pay would be about 10,000,00 yen, about £450.  So David has been thinking about starting a couple of small businesses.

His main focus is to build our English school here. He's making a home page and has been putting leaflets out for the past month, but no calls. I know this happens sometimes, we just have to be patient.

The other buisness ideas he has are rather unique. One is to grow and sell small cacti. He bought one this morning, from which he can grow others. 

Cute

People seem to like these little plants, so he thinks it might work. This idea I can get behind.

The other idea he has has me freaked out!

Selling cockroaches as pet food! 

Apparently, there is a market for cockroaches to feed to lizards and some type of fish. These aren't native cockroaches but ones from South America, that are cleaner and don't carry bacteria that could kill the animals that they are fed to. 

I told him that if he wants to try it, that's okay, but not in the house, not anywhere near the house! We have a hut on the land near here that he can use. I hope he doesn't think to bring them home with him!

He is looking into this now! I'm trying to think of other businesses that he could start. Any ideas?

Visiting My Friend

 Yesterday, Mikey took me to see one of my friends.

She had invited us for lunch. It was the memorial day for her husband, who passed away 28 years ago. It was nice to sit and reminisce about the past. 

Another reason she invited us over was that she plans to return to her own country at the end of this year. She's been here for 35 years, about the same as me, but feels that at this time in her life, being in her own country is better. She's a few years older than me and is starting to find that the colder weather is not good for her anymore.

Of course, living here for so long, she has a lot of things. She's very good at giving away things, selling off larger items that she no longer needs and throwing away stuff that has seen better days. Unlike me, she doesn't have a massive storage place to dump stuff. Her house is tidy and comfortable, but of course, there are a lot of things that she can't take back. 

She offered her fridge and washing machine to Mikey; he and his wife have finally found a place to live, but they can't move in until September. My friend's fridge and washing machine are only a couple of years old and still in good condition. I hope that this will help Mikey. Money is very tight at the moment.

She asked me to have a look around and tell her if there's anything I would like. I asked if I could have the desk, she was so happy about that. 

She also loaded us up with a lot of books for teaching. She still has a few classes, but most of the materials she has she isn't using amymore.

She told me that if she doesn't start to get rid of things, then the process of moving will drag on! 

I made that mistake when moving houses. I put off throwing out stuff, moving things that we weren't using. In the end, it was a scramble to get out of the other house!

Packing up 35 years' worth of memories is going to be hard. Saying goodbye to what she has known for so long is hard, but she is excited to start a new adventure. 

I'm happy for her, but of course sad for me!

We will keep in touch, but I liked the idea of being able to visit, even if it is just once or twice a year!

My friend lives in the city. I don't usually go into the city, especially by car. If I go, it's to go to the theatre with Hannah, then we'll use the train.

Where I live, I'm surrounded by mountains and trees; there is green everywhere. During the day, it is so quiet, the only noises are birds and my cats; sometimes I can hear the old man who is working the land behind our house. I think I've gotten used to the quiet.

On the drive in, I noticed how much variety there is in the buildings.

I was trying to figure out what the last building was! It's really beautiful. Maybe a hotel or a wedding venue. I love the domed roofs and the columns on the front.

We took a different route on the way home. 

This road always scares me. There are three lanes; the ones on either side go one way. The middle lane changes depending on the time of day. At about the 10-second mark, there are signs over the road showing which lane you can use. I often wonder what happens as the lane changes direction!

We drove past one of the self-defence forces bases. 

This plane has been here for many years!

I had a lovely day out! 

I hope to visit a few more times. I promised my friend that once she has decided on the date for her departure, we will help out with moving everything.  Things that she can't sell or give away will have to be trashed, so we can help with that!

She has talked about this move for a few years, going yesterday and seeing how the house is already a bit emptier has made it real for me!

 

The Storage Wars, Yet Again

 I have decided that I have to tackle the upstairs storage room.

35 years' worth of stuff has been dumped in there.

In every house we rented, there was never enough space to keep everything, so every few months, things got packed away and put into storage. The idea was to go back and sort out the stuff, throw away what we didn't need and keep things that could be useful later. This was great when the kids were little; outgrown toys, clothes and school books got put up there. The problem is, we never went back to throw out things! When we knew we were moving here, we did clean out a lot of the oldest stuff. Mikey was in his 30's, but I still had his baby clothes! Why?

The few times that we cleaned out left me in tears. I found a little bag that all the kids used for school. I remember buying it for Mikey; it had Mickey Mouse on it, I thought seeing a familiar character would comfort Mikey when he started school! Just finding that had me sitting on the floor, crying. It wasn't the things themselves, but the memories attached to them. Another box we opened had some of Hisao's clothes. I thought that I had thrown out everything, but obviously not; that was another lot of crying! What I decided to do was to keep a few things that hold very special memories and let the other stuff go. I told the kids that once I had left the storage room, the boxes that we had sorted through could go into the trash. It helped if I didn't see it being thrown away; I didn't think about it!

When we moved in here, a lot of stuff went upstairs. We moved from a house with 6 rooms, plus a big living/dining/kitchen area, to a house with 3 rooms, a tatami room and a kitchen/dining area, less than half the space we had before, so no room at all! A lot of things had to be put upstairs. In the other house, we had two rooms that we used for teaching, with 100s of books and other teaching materials. The rooms were off-limits to the cats.

All those books had to go somewhere.

The photo is of the main classroom that we had set up; the room next to it also had a load of books. Then there are all the things that Hannah didn't move to her apartment. Her toys, books and more books, plus clothes that she wasn't sure whether to keep or not. 

So a lot of stuff is still up there, but as I know, it's impossible to organise a lot of stuff, especially when some of it is really trash.

This past week or so, a couple of things have happened. One is that David started taking the outside trash to the city incinerator; he's made a few trips with his car loaded. Which means we now have a way to dispose of the trash, which has helped clear my head. For a long time, I've been wondering what to do with all the trash. I know there had to be a way to get rid of it, but how? Now that has been sorted. The other is my mindset; I have to tackle this situation, otherwise it will be hanging over my head all the time. It's like an itch in the back of my mind that won't go away! 

Today, Christopher and I went upstairs. This is what greeted us.

I stood in the middle to take these photos; both ends of the room are a disaster.

We did a lot, but I didn't take any after photos. 

I really hope to be able to go upstairs a few more times this week. I sorted one box of very old clothes that can go in the trash. I also found 100 yen and a necklace that I bought for Hannah a few years ago, she had put in a different box from her other jewellery!

I didn't get to the books; there are still boxes of books that need shelves, so that's the next thing to tackle.

I would love to get this done before it gets too hot! Today it was about 22℃, next week it'll be up to 27℃, that's getting a bit too hot to work in!

I have to keep my determination to get this big job done, but I think once it's done, it'll be easier to keep clean and to find things that we need from up there. I want to store off-season clothes and blankets up there, which, at the moment, is almost impossible. 

Wish me luck!

Spring Cleaning

 I had a plan! Start spring cleaning today, get in the corners, under the places that don't see daylight, get the toilet and bathroom tiles to shine!

How much did I do? Zero, nothing, not even one little swipe of a duster.

Before you start shouting at me for being lazy, I have a legitimate reason! Really, I'm not making this up!

I've had a headache since yesterday afternoon. Tuesday and Wednesday, I'm out teaching, so I know Thursday I'm not going to have the energy to do much. But I went shopping to buy some tea, which, as you know, didn't work out! It had been raining on and off all morning, actually, I noticed that the rain got heavier every time I had to go out. In the car, the rain almost stopped, got to the mall, parked, and the heavens opened up. The same as we were leaving the mall, went to the doors, almost no rain, stepped outside, and it suddenly got very heavy again!

After lunch, the storm really picked up, rain, wind and a bit of thunder, that's when my headache got really bad.

When that storm passed, I decided to have a little walk outside, just around the garden. I was hoping that by getting a bit of fresh air, my headache would recede a bit. It didn't, but I took a nice video of the garden and the sky, which was looking very dramatic.

I don't enjoy storms, but at the same time I'm fascinated by how the weather changes, the clouds and different colours in the sky are so interesting!

Last night was awful rain, wind and thunder. I woke up at 3am with a raging headache. I took some painkillers, which kind of helped. I sat watching the lightning over the mountains. Spectacular but a bit scary as well.

This morning, I went out to check that there was no damage from things being blown about. Looked like everything was alright.

It's been raining most of the day again, but not as bad as yesterday.

I really hope that we have a few days of nicer weather, as I do need to get this cleaning done.

One place that needs doing, that I haven't done at all, is above the shoe cupboard in the genkan, the entrance.

The shoe cupboard is very high, and I can't reach the top to clean without a long ladder. I don't know why they didn't just block off that area; it's been left open to catch all the dust. I guess it's never been cleaned since the house was built!

The space above the shoe cupboard.

I was hoping to keep ignoring it, but Alan, our black cat, managed to get up there the other day.

How did he manage it?

David to the rescue.

I'm glad that David was here to get Alan down. I know cats can jump, but we were worried that he could hurt himself!  I can climb up to clean, but I don't think I could keep my balance while holding Alan. I'm thinking of putting something up there to block it off!

That is one area that is desperate to be done, but I've noticed that the cobwebs are back and covered in cat hair. It's that time of year when the cats start to shed their winter coats. Cat hair gets everywhere, so I have to start brushing them more often!

Wish me luck. I really do have to make a start. 

Does anyone else do spring cleaning?

Disappointed

 Last summer, we drove 30 minutes to a shopping mall that we usually don't shop at because there was a shop selling British tea. I managed to get a box, which made me very happy. I was at the same store in January of this year and noticed that they had two different brands of British tea, but as I'm the only one who drinks tea, I still had a lot of tea bags left, so I didn't buy any. This week I noticed I was running low on tea, so today I asked David to drive me to the mall to buy some more.

There was no British tea at all!  There was one brand that claimed to be English tea, but I had never heard of that brand, and it was very expensive. Never mind, I wanted some Caijun spice; this is an import shop, so I thought that they would have that, but no.

In the end, I bought some vinegar!

Malt Vinegar.

This is hard to find in Japan. Vinegar here is usually rice vinegar. I buy apple cider vinegar and some type of black vinegar, but malt vinegar is only available at food import stores.

I also managed to get some nice broccoli and mushrooms. Small things, but that made me happy.

I planned to do a little bit in the garden today, but it's been raining on and off all day, we even had a thunderstorm this afternoon. Not too bad, but I don't like thunderstorms. I really hope we don't have another summer like last year with these crazy storms. This is a post from last July, Jackie's Japan Journal: Thunderstorms

I still have to make dinner, but not sure what to make! Better see what I have.