Martins In Japan -Chapter 32

Chapter 32 Sunday 6th – Saturday 16th August 2008

We love Japan!!!
Our stay here has been both enlightening and perplexing. The Japanese are a people of paradoxes- so generous and welcoming but also reserved. They are very forgiving of me with my stilted and mispronounced Japanese yet I am not sure if all my faux pas are overlooked. It is hard to tell as they smile at me anyway even when I am doing ‘Big Gaijin Dag’!!! So the ‘front face/back face’ dichotomy continues to confuse and delight me. I am also learning to bow in increments as there are certain degrees in the angle and depth of the bow depending on the situation. ‘Bow etiquette’! Lots of subtle behaviours that I am just now learning to recognise as I ‘Bull in a china shop’ around the place. The wonderful Japanese just bow and smile!

This week has been a busy one. It is ‘Summer Holiday’ time here. The Japanese take their holidays seriously as they don’t take many and everyone is on trains/planes and automobiles travelling to family or holiday destinations. Which means the city is pretty empty – for Japanese standards – still looks like ‘Burke Street’ on a Saturday morning as far as I can tell. All the summer sales are on “Hold me Back!!!” and lots of places are having ‘special’ events and entertainment. We attended ‘several’ little festivals in different locations going to see some of the musicians that are playing in our concert perform. The wonderful ‘Kimono ladies’ doing ‘Japanese Line Dancing’. All the kids and teenagers out in their ‘Yukata’s’ looking gorgeous and watching the little ones ‘fishing’ for gold fish in little ponds is funny as they get their sleeves all wet!!! (see photos). There are street stalls selling all manner of food and drink as well as side shows etc. One guy was selling BUGS!!! Really really BIG BUGS (see photo!!) Only in Japan!!
We went to harbour land and had a ride on the ‘big Ferris wheel’ it moves really slowly and has great views of the harbour and the city as well as the fun park with the Double Decker carousel etc (see photos).

I ran my ‘Women’s Wisdom workshop and ‘Rinako’ came on the bullet train from Tokyo to stay over with us and translate for me. It was a wonderfully received workshop and it will be one that I am looking forward to repeating in Australia. Natsuko (another wonderful lady that we have met here with her husband Richard) also helped to interperet and will being interpereting my Love Languages courses. We all went out for dinner and Rina had a great time as she had never been to Kobe. Brian and I took her ‘up the local Ropeway’ to look at the view and walk in the herb garden. We also went up the 36 floors to the top of Crown Plaza to look at the night view (see photos) and drink cocktails at the bar which was really fun!!! It will be a spot to take all the Aussies when they arrive. Speaking of which, Imogen is here now and has attended the Music Facilitator Training with Brian and is already ‘turning Japanese’ getting into the food. I have initiated her in the art of ‘100 yen shopping’ and she is hooked!!! This is her first trip out of Australia so a bit of a culture shock for her.

Its been a very exciting holidays for us as we have had no choir on this week so Brian has been mixing and mastering his solo album at ‘Vintage Studios’ with Yuichi and it is finished!!!!! YAY!!!! So if you have ordered the cd you will be receiving it soon!!!! Thank you all for your patience.
Brian is very very pleased and it sounds amazing Yuichi didn’t have much English but a real feel for the music and took it home at night and listened to it working till the wee hours of the morning and has done a great job.
We are really enjoying ourselves and are looking forward to the rest of the Aussies arriving so we can show them around!!!
Sending love to all that’s it for another episode of ‘MARTINSSSSSS INNNNNNN JAPANNNNN!!!!!”