They're back

During Gwen and Nicole's stay, I spotted two more cockroaches - but both were tiny and easily squished. Both were also spotted near doors, so we assumed they were getting in from the outside. That theory was squashed last night, though. I ran into a medium sized cockroach on the bathroom sink. He quickly scurried through a crack in the plastic frame of the bathroom vanity and has not been seen again.

That, of course, means he (and probably many of his buddies) are hanging out in our apartment where we can't see them. Suddenly every spot on the floor looks like Roach poo and all rolling dust bunnies like skittery little friends.

Neither of us slept last night.

Sorry to have been absent for so long. Between guests and work and surprise work and finals I just didn't have time for the blog. Gwen and Nicole headed out today... Russell and I are pretty bummed out about it. Hope you all enjoyed the guest blogging, though. I'm looking forward to a lazy evening, so I'm going to start with a lazy blog post. Mostly just pictures. I wasn't present for most of the misadventures of the past two weeks, but I do have a few nice snapshots to share. Starting at the beginning ...The first weekend Gwen and Nicole were here was pretty packed with action. On Saturday we went to Nara (an ancient capital of Japan and highly recommended by many - also easy distance by train). There are enough things to see in Nara that we really only hit up the biggest attraction - a large park walking distance from the train. One of the attractions of the park is a rather large (over 1,000) herd of small deer. They are quite comfortable with the equally large (or perhaps larger) swarms of tourists in their park and often gather around the food vendors waiting for said tourists to splurge on some deer cookies. The deer cookies are packages of special brown wafers that are meant for the deer and that are sold in most vending carts in the park - in some cases that is all that is being sold. When we were first approaching the park we saw a man being swarmed in a not too friendly manner by hungry deer. We were a bit concerned for his safety, but then we realized he was being stingy with his cookies. You can't just hold a bundle of deer cookies over your head and then act surprised when the deer try to climb your frame. Nicole took the more "Snow White" approach to feeding the deer, doling out bite sized pieces quickly and efficiently to all deer equally. She suffered only minor skirt nibbles. This park is also home of an especially large Buddhist temple - one which is now only a very modest version of its original glory (which burned down twice). The first picture is of the outside of the temple, and this following picture is of the statue inside. It has a rather enormous (largest in Japan??) copper statue of Buddha sitting on a lotus. For scale, imagine that there is a crowd of people maybe four or five feet deep between me and the fence around the statue. Now notice that you can't see any of their heads. On the following Sunday, it was Nicole's birthday, and she had expressed an interest in swimming. Russell and I had not really considered such a thing yet, but we got to work looking for potential swimming holes. We got off to a late start, so my grand plans to go to the beach resort three hours from here just didn't seem doable. Instead, Russell found a beach just on the other side of downtown Kobe. I was nervous about running into my students (in my bathing suit that is about two sizes too small) so I just camped out on the beach and graded papers. The other three intrepid souls took to the water... after contemplating it for several minutes. After the beach, we went into downtown and enjoyed a public bath (have I described those yet?) and then headed over to our favorite vegetarian restaurant for birthday dinner before a good long round of karaoke - a not-so-surprising hit with Russell's a capella comrades. One highlight (lowlight?) of the public bath experience was accidentally splitting off from Russell before he had the chance to grab his soap out of my purse. He had to ask the gentleman scrubbing down next to him if he could borrow his soap. In Japanese. He was offered shampoo too, out of what he imagines to be pity. While I am truly sorry to have put Russell in this position, the resulting story is one of my favorites of the weekend. I'm sure Russell doesn't appreciate that at all. In a completely different vein, I also enjoyed the black-light mural on the wall in our karaoke room.
My last story for tonight (but I promise there are more to come) is of our experimentation with the "cake" setting on our rice cooker. I had not gotten around to investigating said setting, but Gwen and Nicole got right to work on it. According to the Internet, it is quite possible to make cake in your rice cooker (at least it is if you have a cake setting). They chose a banana cake recipe and went to work one evening. The following pictures document the experience.






While we waited for the cake to cook Nicole and I played SET and Gwen knitted away at her amazing cable knit blanket. As time wore on, however, we shifted to science experiments - and let me tell you, the pirate eye experiment is worth recreating right now in your very own home. You know you want to. Its pretty amazing. The end result of the cake, as luck would have it, was pretty amazing too. It has a slightly spongier texture than I am used to (probably due to all the steam in the cooker) but it is definitely cake. I wonder if we could make rice cooker cobbler? I mean, to be honest, this has opened up all sorts of potential culinary experiments. Most of which will probably end in ruin and be documented right here. Stay tuned. Stay tuned also for the more imminent post on this last weekend. I only got to spend Sunday with everyone, but it was a fun-packed Sunday.

Did I mention I miss those two?

Gwen and Nicole Take their Leave

We are sitting here with a dashing, disheveled Russ (and a perfectly sheveled Jaci) on our last night in Kobe. Over a yummo dinner prepared by Master Chef Russell (henceforth known as MCR) we all reflected on the past few weeks. Here are some highlights, recorded in our traditional Best/Worst format:

MCR

BEST

• "And for the lady, a first kiss."
• Sake tasting at sake breweries.

NICE (MCR needed to buck the system)

• seeing a live, chirping cicada

WORST

• Ordering three parfaits for four people, and then four parfaits for four people.  (Apparently, in Japan, parfaits are meant to be shared.  We gaijin like our ice cream.  And we don't like sharing.)

JACI

BEST

• Coming home regularly to hot meals (we make an excellent Team Housewife)
• Pirate experiment: Gwen taught us that despite what we may have assumed, your average eyepatch-wearing pirate was not actually missing an eye.  In fact, they wore them on purpose to always have one eye that was adjusted to lots of light and another that was adjusted to very little (this is very helpful if you are a lookout pirate in a crow's nest).  To replicate our experiment: Spend a few minutes with one eye covered.  With the eye covered, go to a very dark room.  Uncover your eye and enjoy.
• Having natives (Jaci's conversation partner, Kobayashi-san, and her friend, Noriko) pick out some very delicious food for us at the Izakaya restaurant in Kyoto.
• Gwen actually (probably) liking mochi.
• Rice-cooker Banana Cake

WORST

• As if it wasn't bad enough to work while having guests, she even had to work on one of her Saturdays.  
• Walking part of the way to work in a downpour (somebodies having stolen her purse umbrella).  On a day when she had to present to parents.
• General, burning-the-candle-at-both-ends lack of sleep.
• Gwen thinking she did not like mochi.

GWEN

BEST

• My fortune
• Hilarious signs galore!!
• Oyakodon (very tasty chicken and egg dish that Gwen ate about five times)
• Multilingual empty orchestra
• Little history man. We were standing, pondering a couple samurai statues, when a very nice Japanese man came up to us and gave us a history lesson.  Main samurai guy (Sakamoto Ryouma) is very famous.  Mostly for trying to get the white folks out of Japan.  Sorry, sir.
• Although it was quite cloudy, we got to see the partial solar eclipse our first day in Kyoto.
• Due to Gwen's convincing/nagging skills, we got to ride on a very big ferris wheel.
• Fresh-smelling, air-dried towels.

WORST

• My fortune (see Nara video)
• My diseased leg.  Thank you, Japanese ants.
• Uncooperative MCR (wouldn't be a koala, wouldn't take a picture betwixt the conductor, wouldn't buy a girl's hat, wouldn't go on the Santa Maria).
• (caged) big, yellow python at the zoo (MCR: "in Gwen's defense, it was talking about wanting to eat her).
• Walking (MCR edit: "nice strolling") for forever to the palace only to be denied due to not carrying our passports round with us.

NICOLE

BEST

• Good, solid quality time with MCR  and Jaci.  
• FOOD!  Highlights include red bean paste and ramen.
• The adorablest turtle.
• Dollar store (Daiso).  
• A fantastic birthday that included swimming and yummy, fruity, fancy cake.
• Good, solid quality time with Gwen (sorry, Gwen)

WORST

• Less Jaci time than we should have had (stupid job).
• Some really quite impressive heat and humidity.
• No dude restaurants (due to Gwen being too girly).

Done.  Gwen and Nicole, over and out.

US Invasion

Honored Guest Posters: Gwen and Nicole

First of all, we would like to apologize for not arriving a day early and inadvertently causing Russ and Jaci to think we were deported.  That won't happen again.

Secondly, Konnichiwa!  Greetings from Japan!  Our sincerest thanks to The Family Mull for putting us up.  We have our own room with a balcony, our own beds AND air conditioning.  What more could a person possibly want?

Thirdly, we are done with lists, onto the actual trip.

Thus far the food has been excellent, even with Gwen's new stupid dietary restrictions (turns out sushi is not quite as standard fare as one would expect.  Want to see more on satirical sushi in Japan?  Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDL8yu34fz0)  

From the airport food (where Gwen very happily learned that it is appropriate to slurp your noodles), to beach soba noodles, to yummy vegetarian and even the gourmet meal Russ cooked at home, food has been a highlight.  Nicole is of the firm position that the food here kicks Ecuador's rear end.  Good thing they don't often go head to head in cook-offs. 

In case you have never seen anime or Hello Kitty, let us be the first to tell you... Japan likes stuff CUTE.  Gwen has been very successful in her ongoing quest for Fabulous Signs.   

Exhibit A:  We are pretty sure this sign at the beach indicates that there is to be no dancing.  You know what that leads to...

She has also gone and purchased one very adorable bento box, complete with adorable accessories.  Will she able to actually make the equally charming five-course lunches that traditionally fill these lunchboxes?  Who can say?  She HAS been challenged to a solid month of preparing said lunches so, if we know Gwen, her stubbornness ought to see her through.  Shall we make it two

 months?  Other examples of cute Japan include:  Gwen's mug that says "When you are here my heart goes poka poka", free roaming park deer that nibble at your skirt while you feed them, and train chimes to the tune of I've Been Working on the Railroad.

Umm...for those of you planning to travel to Japan (and you should), unless you are from, say, Florida, you might be more comfortable avoiding western Japanese summer.  Because, dudes, it is HOT here.  More than that, it is WICKED HUMID.  Jaci was not kidding about that.  Princess Gwen of the Silver Linings is enjoying her hydrated, smooth skin and her ubercurly hair.  Nicole is enjoying the air-conditioning and the swimming in the ocean (which, sadly, looks like it was a one time deal - go birthdays!).   

Turns out it is a good thing Gwen thinks so positively, because friends... things aren't looking so good:  

No worries about the rest of us.  Nicole may have missed her opportunity to win lots of money gambling, but despite that, we all apparently live blessed lives.  Sorry Gwen.  She did buy a good luck charm, so maybe she's fine.  Oh and WAIT!  Gwen is cured!  Her liver was all sick and full of enzymes but she rubbed some guy's belly and now she's fine.  Yay raw fish and alcohol!  And yay Japan!  

Two things we have recently done that took significant guts... public baths and karaoke.  Both rousing successes, we think.  Go for it.  It is not as embarrassing as you might think to wander round naked with lots of Japanese women.  Lots of Japanese women and two small boys with plastic fish and plastic sand timers to keep them from overheating. We are much cleaner and more relaxed than we used to be.  With no dead skin cells either.  (Sidenote: sorry, Russ, for bogarting the soap.  And sorry you then had to ask the naked guy next to you for his soap.  Sorry.)  Also, karaoke in a room full of friends and a tambourine is good, clean fun.  We might totally have to do it again.  Bonus: we now know WAY more words to Blinded by the Light than any of us did before.  Look them up if you don't already know them; they're fabulous.  And epic.  Also, a calliope is not a merry-go-round.  Jaci is smarter than we are.

Now we have to go cook dinner for Jaci, our breadwinner.  We'll have to get back to you later.  Sayonara.  Keep it real.

Wild Goose Chase

Yesterday was something special.

Of course I have to start at the beginning... hopefully you've come to expect no less.

First, Russell and I have been working hard to prepare a welcoming nest for our first guests. Two friends from the States are visiting us for two weeks and we wanted to make sure we had comfy beds for them, a clean place to stay, etc. It took some work (especially the bed part) but we had it all done the weekend before they were to arrive.

We waited anxiously for Wednesday to pick them up from the airport. We had our route all planned out. We had discovered (rather by accident) that there was a ferry that went across the bay from the Kobe Airport to the Kansai International Airport in Osaka. It would only take 30 minutes as opposed to an hour on the bus - and it was the same price! (And, in case it slipped past the first time - A BOAT). I just had to wait until 5:30 when I could safely dash away from work.

The problem was that at 4:30, I found out I had to proctor a placement test for some study abroad students. I wouldn't finish until 6;00 and I didn't know if that would give me enough time to get to the airport on time. Russell agreed to go ahead and message back to me with the schedule and procedure if it seemed feasible for me to follow behind. As it turned out, I got out just in time to catch the tram to the Kobe Airport and hop a shuttle to the ferry. I did just that (with only minor confusion) and got on the ferry.

When I think of ferries, I think of large plodding barges with room for cars and upper decks you can venture out on for fresh air. This was totally different. There were no cars and no upper deck. Instead, the boat looked like a small yacht with space for luggage and fancy seating (with TVs) on the inside. I noticed when I sat down that there were drops of water sprayed all over the windows, which seemed odd on a sunny day. Then we took off. Turned out, it was a SPEED FERRY!! We jetted off across the bay. It was awesome.

I arrived with about 15 minutes before their flight was scheduled to land. Russell met me. He had arrived an hour earlier, so he had scouted out their gate and grabbed a bite to eat. I was hungry, but I didn't want to miss them, so we went down to the gate and staked out a good vantage point.

We waited.

Luckily there was a screen right next to the exit that listed arrivals and had a status update with things like "customs" and "waiting baggage." We started getting antsy when the status changed to "waiting baggage." People who looked like true-blue Americans started walking out the arrival doors. They had to be nearby. I kept wondering if they were seeing the other side of the people we were seeing.

Time passed.

Flights from other countries started coming out.

More time passed.

We started to worry that maybe we had the wrong gate. After their flight had been on the ground for an hour Russell went to wait at the other arrivals gate. Still nothing. At about an hour and a half after arrival the notice for their flight disappeared completely. Our imaginations began to run wild. Had they missed the flight? Wouldn't they have called us? (yes, they had our phone numbers). Were they still stuck in customs? Had they lost luggage? Had they (God forbid) been detained at customs and sent home on another flight?? Russell went to talk to Information. They told him they would page our friends, which they did. No answer. The Information lady called to the back and was told that there was definitely no one left from that flight. Now we were really worried. The only reason we could think of for them not calling was if they were currently heading back over the Atlantic. Russell went back to talk with the harried Information lady. She gave him the number for Northwest Airlines in Japan. As Russell suspected. they could tell him nothing (for privacy reasons). We didn't know what to do. Then, the Information lady suggested we call Northwest Airlines in the US. It seems they are somewhat less strict with their security. We found the wireless Internet and Skyped NW Airlines. This was the magic ticket. Russell got a very helpful lady who looked our friends up and - this is the best part.

Told us they were coming tomorrow.

We had a very long ride home.

Update: It is now "tomorrow" and our friends have arrived. Russell is escorting them home as I type this. Happy ending.

Weather Update

Summer is upon us. We are still nowhere near top heat/humidity (that pleasure is saved for August), but it has gone from "kind of sticky but mostly beautiful", to "wow, kinda rainy, but beautiful in between," to "WHO TURNED ON THE SUN???" I find myself wishing I were a mole so I could live underground and not emerge until winter. I feel like I get a sunburn every time I step outside. I spend as little time as possible outside, so while I am not getting sunburned, I am certainly developing a steadily darker tan. It is starting to draw attention.

Lately, all of the Japanese folks I have talked to start out by complaining about how hot it is, and then quickly explain that this is nothing compared to August if I try to join in. This is often followed by wicked chuckles. Can't wait.

Getting Ready for Company

Things are buzzing around here as we prepare for our FIRST VISITORS! We are both really excited. This weekend we went out and bought futons for our guests and this evening we cleaned the apartment. Of course, it won't stay clean for three whole days until they arrive - but at least it will take less time to clean on Tuesday. I don't understand how this apartment gets so messy so quickly - I blame the fact that everything is white.

Buying guest futons turned out to be quite an ordeal. We wanted something that would stow easily, but we also wanted something that would be comfortable. Futons can be super comfy - but usually those futons cost an arm and a leg and are super fluffy - thus consuming a large amount of space. Our first plan was to buy a double futon (like the one we have) so two people could sleep on it at once and we would only need a home for one futon. It turns out double futons are hard to find, though, and not as cheap as two single futons. We went back and forth - looked at thicker foam futons as compared to the more standard cotton ones... Finally we went with two bed-in-a-bag basic futons. After all, they will only be used rarely, they seemed to stack okay and they didn't cost TOO much. Plus, they come with the bottom and top futon and a pillow - can't beat that. Of course, storing two futons pretty much take our entire closet - as you can see from the picture - but now we are fully prepared for guests!

So come one, come all (in groups of two or less at a time). We are ready!

In other news, I find we stop in at Starbucks far more often in Japan than we ever did in Oregon. This is not for lack of other coffee shops (we still go weekly to Cafe Kei, for example), it is also not for any particular love of the coffee, but somehow we keep going back. I think this is the result of two things. First, right when we arrived, Starbucks remodeled one of the old victorian houses up on the hill and, well, it feels like home to be drinking coffee in an old, freshly painted, but not totally remodeled victorian home. While seats are a scarcity on weekends, it is one of my favorite hang-outs during off hours. The second Starbucks draw is Jelly Coffee Frappaccino. This is something I know you can't find back in the States, and I am pretty sure it isn't anywhere else outside of Japan either. The drink has three layers: cubes of a jello-like substance made out of espresso, next, coffee, milk, sugar and ice blended and poured over the top of the jelly and finally topped off with whipped cream. Delicious. The picture doesn't do it justice. (It is also minus whipped cream). I'm growing thoroughly addicted to them. Unfortunately, this addiction is only encouraged by the fact that this is a seasonal offering and will disappear some day in the near future. I have to load up now!

Karaoke Revisited

We decided to go out on the town tonight. We started off with a FABULOUS Indian dinner. We had found another Indian restaurant a while back, and it was okay - but this place was outstanding. Everything was great and the atmosphere was awesome. Of course, neither of us though to take pictures. Alas.

Next, however, we decided to head over to a new Karaoke place. This one was part of the same chain as the last one, but it was a "Super" edition. As far as I can tell, that just means bigger rooms and technology that is harder to use. It was still fun though (once someone came in and reset the TV we had screwed up by using the wrong remote). I DID remember to take pictures this time.

We had a rather big room all to ourselves. There room was circular and had a red leather bench that went the entire circumference of the room except for a gap where the TV and televison were. There was also a giant circular table in the middle. You will, I am sure, note the complementary tambourines. The screen with all the Japanese on it is the remote you are SUPPOSE to use to pick out songs. It has a touch screen and you can either type in the song or group OR you can just put a letter and then browse. You can browse everything or choose certain subcategories - like, say, all western music (western as in not Asian - the country western selection is a bit thin). Oh, and there was a chandelier... I don't think that shows in the picture, though. I think I mentioned before that you pay by the half hour (cheaper during off hours) and then you can order food and drinks to be sent to your room. We just stuck to the free Oolong tea we got when we arrived, though.

After Karaoke, we headed over to an Irish pub we had just spotted. It was packed, but we managed to get a table after some awkward shifting from foot to foot and scanning the crowd. They had a house brew on tap that was perfectly decent. There were a number of co-worker groups (as is to be expected). In Japan, from what I gather, in a typical business office, going out to drinks after work is obligatory. I'm not clear on how often it happens, but going or not going is not actually a choice. Everyone goes. This can really suck if your family is waiting at home for you. Its probably a great way to network, though.

Cute Things

First, we have one of the adorable panda paintings at the train stop outside the zoo. You know you are in the right neighborhood because there is a panda painted on EVERYTHING. The zoo is, as you may recall, very proud of its rental pandas. This little fellow especially tickled me. He just exudes glee. I especially like his toes.

The next picture is of a grandfather and grandson duo I was watching on the train. It is probably totally not okay to take pictures of strangers and post them online - especially children - but the picture is too blurry to be recognizable, anyway. The pair were sitting at the very front of the train so the grandson could watch the train conductor. The conductor had started to pull the shade down, but then waved to the little boy (who waved back ) and left the shade open. The little boy would periodically turn around to point things out to his grandfather. It was very cute.

3 Years Ago

We have now reached the overlap in time zones in which it is our anniversary both here and back in Oregon. Three years. I'm kind of surprised when I think of all we've been up to in just three years. We went to the UK, bought a house, I started my career, we moved to Japan... and there have been many other adventures along the way. Seems like a good start to me.

To celebrate, we pigged out on ice cream. We went to the grocery store and bought the family size box of Pino (I'll post a pictures soon). Pino is made by Eskimo and is basically a mini, bite-sized eskimo pie. The family box has three flavors - almond, vanilla and chocolate. We enjoyed our purchase in the park down the street, in the dark, amongst the mosquitos. It was nice.

Running

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, while I have been walking to work, Russell has been running for his exercise. Last week it rained a little too much for my liking, so I didn't walk a single day. Russell, on the other hand, had good luck finding dry mornings. This week, it is really starting to get hot and humid at the same time. I am avoiding all contact with the outside. The mornings (like, say, before 7am) are still fairly cool, though. I have no real need to arrive at work an extra hour early, so I decided to join Russell running. He has figured out a route that goes up past the zoo, through a park, and ends up at a track. He introduced me to it on Sunday last week, so I agreed to follow him up to the track at a slower pace.

I should also mention that Russell has been using PodRunner. PodRunner is a podcast (kind of like radio programs on demand for your ipod, if you are unfamiliar with the term). The basic format is alternate running- and walking-paced techno music with handy little chimes to tell you when to run and when to walk. The podcasts graduate up. so for the first week you listen to the first one - 30 minutes with only short running times scattered in between longer walking times - and then after one week of that, you start week two- which consists of longer running periods and shorter walking periods. Eventually, this gets you up to running a 5k and beyond. Russell is doing about 3k now, and I just started today.

Results? I felt no fatigue whatsoever from the running - the running periods were really very short to begin with - but I have definitely been able to feel it in my legs all day. I also need to remember to drink lots of fluids the night before. I went running even though I already felt dehydrated, and I've been battling a headache all day. All in all, it seemed to be a success, though. I'm looking forward to trying it again on Wednesday.

Ring Order is In

We returned to the ring shop today and made our final order. We have to wait two weeks until the wax mold is made, then we can try the ring again for size and make sure we still like the design. Finally, in about a month, the ring will be finished.

Our jeweler friend came and sat with us again today to act as translator if needed. He explained that he had never been on the selling end of the business before. He didn't look too comfortable with it, but we were very glad to have him. At one point, Russell went off to put in his PIN for the down payment, and the jeweler indicated to me that he was a little bit worried he had opened a Pandora's box when he invited the designer to get involved. I don't think he realized that once the designer joined the show the selling would get so aggressive. He may also not have been aware that there was an extra charge for a customized design. I'm not entirely sure. He definitely seemed to feel out of place being on the selling side of things. As Russell pointed out later, people who make things and people who sell things are a different breed. I assured the jeweler that we were happy with the result (and we are). Did I mention we really like this guy, though? It turns out his partner will be the one who actually makes the ring, but that's okay.

Karaoke

It was really only a matter of time.

I had been to Japanese-style karaoke when I was in Sapporo years ago. Russell, on the other hand, had never had the pleasure. He was, as you can probably imagine, very interested in trying it. Unlike American karaoke, where a bar offers a karaoke machine and you sign up to sing in front of drunken strangers, Japanese Karaoke is typically for private groups. You go with your friends, sign up for a room, and order down for food and beverages if you want them. It is far less intimidating because you are with your friends, and at a good karaoke place there is also tasty finger food to share.

Russell and I had been unsure whether it would be odd to go as only a group of two. Russell was also nervous that we would be the oldest people present. As for the second concern, I had seen middle retired women signing up for karaoke rooms before, so I was pretty sure age wasn't a concern. My Japanese teacher confirmed that it was perfectly okay to go as a pair. Alone would look pretty sad, but two was fine. That was all Russell needed to hear. After ring hunting yesterday, we headed to one of the bigger karaoke chains in Kobe. Unfortunately. we went during peak hours, so it was a little expensive ($8/person/hour) but there are off peak hours, so we will figure that out for next time. We got our own private room upstairs and after some confusion, figured out how to select songs. After some more experimenting with the technology, we figure out how to BROWSE for songs in English. At that point we requested an extra hour in our booth. Along with choosing songs, you can also adjust the pitch to suit your voice and adjust the tempo. We also experimented with the food service, ordering fried vegetables and edamame (steamed soy beans with salt).

We had a good time, and I can definitely see how mixing in more friends and some alcohol could make karaoke a super fun, if somewhat expensive, evening out. For those of you planning to visit... start tuning up your voices.

(Sorry for the lack of pictures.... we were too busy singing).

Clean Bill of Health - and a Ring on the Horizon

I had yet another dermatologist visit today, and the doctor said I was all better and didn't need to come in any more. That was, unfortunately, not the case for Russell, who has developed a number of itchy patches all over his body (neck, forehead, tummy, etc). On closer inspection, what we had assumed to be a ringworm that was being spread by a towel, was actually three different skin diseases (all in the same family, though). The dermatologist referred to Russell as a "department store" of mycology. He then laughed heartily. Russell is thrilled. The dermatologist assured him that all the patches were 100% treatable, and our medicine cabinet is now better stocked than ever. Russell is currently all shiny with ointment and on the mend. Thank goodness we found such a nice doctor. Its nice not having to worry about some aspect of the medical system.

Russell's woes aside, my finger is all better! Which means it is time to get serious about a new ring. Today, after my Japanese lesson, Russell and I started going through all the jewelers we could find. We probably walked through ten shops or more. We discovered several different sales pitches in our adventures. In some cases, the shop person would compliment Russell's (or sometimes even MY Japanese). In others, they would compliment my engagement ring. One lady even referred to Little House of the Prairie when she heard we were from Oregon. All of the rings were pretty much the same, though, so we ended up going back to a shop we had found on a previous day that had some more interesting designs mixed in with the standard wedding rings. The lady who was helping us was using super super polite Japanese (on a level we haven't even begun to study) so we weren't following so well. Pretty soon one lady at the counter went in the back and emerged with one of the artisans who makes the rings. His English was much better than theirs, so he helped with translation. Between his English and Russell's Japanese, most of the communication problems were solved. I had seen a ring in their catalogue from before that I liked, so once we indicated interest, they invited us upstairs to talk about price, etc.

To make a long story short, the design lady got involved too, and we ended up customizing the design. It was pretty cool. She kept drawing pictures and incorporating things I said I liked until she had come up with two designs I liked equally. We were at the shop for at least an hour, drinking tea and working out the final ring shape, size and expense. It ended up a little bit more expensive than the original ring I had taken an interest in, but it will be way cooler and far less expensive than a custom ring would have been in the US. I'm excited. When I left this evening I couldn't decide between the two designs. In the meantime, however, Russell and I have talked it over more and we will go back tomorrow and make the final order. Exciting!

Russell and I are also both happy we met the artisan who will make the ring. The more we got to know him, the more he seemed like Russell. He was far more laid back than the sales people and he and Russell had about the same level of foreign language ability. At one point when the designer and the sales lady were working especially hard, I looked over and was somewhat embarrassed that Russell was slouching over lazy fashion on the sofa. Then I realized the jeweler was in pretty much the same pose. Two peas in a pod. We asked to take the two designs I liked home, and the sales lady was clearly not going to let it happen. The Jeweler's response was, "aw, just let them take it." It still didn't happen, but we appreciated the gesture.