Dear Family,
I confess it is hard for me to write a letter to so many people at once. I am more of a one-on-one conversationalist than a public speaker. Uncle Dave's letter made me laugh hard enough that I felt I owed someone something so this one is for him, and you can all read it too.
We are trying to enjoy our last 8 months in Japan and not get too antsy about what is coming next. Our future holds a big move to an unknown location, unknown job, sometime this coming summer (we're not staying on active duty with the Coast Guard). We will let you know more as the details unfold, hopefully seamlessly, as such things seldom do. We feel grateful for the opportunity for change, and especially for the knowledge that God's hand is in the details of our lives.
Our lives on the Air Force base are pretty parallel to small town USA and parallel what many of you are doing or have done. Adam traveling for work, new roof on our Virginia house, new middle-schooler, new kindergartener, three boys in soccer, ballet class, potty training a two year old, piano lessons, science club, . . . . Things are a little more varied when we get off base, but much of what we experience we can only guess at. "Kore wa nan desuka?" Here are a few highlights of adventures in Japan the past few months:
September we took a family camping trip to Lake Motosu with a family in our ward. Our combined 11 children earned us the distinction of loudest campers that quiet little campground has ever seen. "Shizuka ni." No one said it, but they were thinking it. I kept wondering how Japanese people keep their kids so quiet. My best guess is that when adults outnumber the children then the children are quieter. Maybe? Lake Motusu is at the base of Mt Fuji. Fuji-san is pretty impressive from that close, even if you only get a
glimpse through the clouds. We saw Shiraito Falls which had just closed for bridge repair two days earlier, so we didn't get to do the hike around the falls. It was cool that we were able to understand the sign explaining why we had to stand behind the fence to see the falls. Disappointingly not very hands on, but beautiful. We also went to Saiko Iyashi no sato Nenba (a thatched roof traditional Japanese village.) The basket weaver was our children's favorite. Highlight of the trip for Adam was fresh Japanese peaches. Wow!
October we took a trip to the Okutama roller slide (in the slight drizzling rain) for my birthday. The slides boast being the longest in Japan (300 meters). The friendly man in the booth gave us foam boards to ride on, gloves to slow down with, and some basic safety instructions. "Wet, fast, dangerous, same, same." "Small person ride in back, front dangerous." We were grateful for the English. The gloves were for grabbing the rail along the side and braking. "Fast, dangerous, same, same." "No stop with feet, dangerous." With those instructions we were ready to ride. Every ride down requires a 300 meter hike back up to do it again. Summary of the experience: "Mom, that was your best birthday party ever."
November William and I went to a local elementary school for their fall harvest festival and learned how to make udon (fat noodles with lots of chopped veggies and miso sauce - is that a fair description Dave?). The teacher kept calling it "Japanese Pasta." Right in the classroom the children mixed the dough with their hands and then stuck the dough in a plastic bag and stomped it flat with their feet. William really got into that part. They then rolled and folded up the dough and cut it with a huge knife and we had raw noodles. Veggies were cut with the same large knives. Then we went out to the school yard and cooked everything in a huge pot placed on these can stoves with wood fires built underneath them. We sat on tarps and ate the soup with our Japanese hosts and shared our American cookies with them. William played rock-paper-scissors with a boy he sat next to. It was a neat experience.
We feel very blessed to be able to have experiences like that by living here in Japan. It has been very easy here for our family to find opportunities to play together. That is something I hope we can keep doing wherever we go next. We will be sad to leave Japan, but glad to be closer to family. Maybe we won't be such strangers to all of you then.
We are grateful for all of you. Happy Thanksgiving.
Love,
Adam, Kaylyn, Samuel, William, Howie, Eliza & Eden
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