Being Married at MeySen

I never thought that having a married teacher would amuse students so much, but they really seem to get a kick out of it.  Part of it is probably the fact that Kris and I work on the floor of same building (MeySen has 3 classroom buildings at the MeySen campus), so my kids see him all the time.


As a disclaimer, I would like to note that I don't encourage or prompt their comments or interest in our relationship.  While on campus, Kris and I never touch or hug or hold hands (as the Japanese are not at all into PDA and as MeySen is our workplace).  The most interaction we have is to stand next to each other as we wave off the buses.  Still, this doesn't keep the kids from being interested.  Below are some little stories of marriage-obsessed 3rd grade class.


When I first met my students (when I was practice-teaching in their 2nd grade class in March), I explained that I was "Mrs. Lauren" instead of "Ms. Lauren" because I am married.  One girl then asked, "Mrs. Lauren, how much children do you have?".  When I answered that I had none, she suggested, "You need to make babies RIGHT NOW!!!!"


When I first started teaching the class, they liked to ask me personal questions such as, "Do you love Mr. Kris? Do you kiss Mr. Kris? Did you say 'I love you' to Mr. Kris? Who do you like more, Mr. Kris or Mr. Greg [my grade level partner]?  Who do you love more, Mr. Kris or the eraser?"  To their kissing question I either replied, "Ew!  Kissing is gross!" or "We don't talk about that at Friends Club."  To the love question I answered matter-of-factly, "Of course I love Mr. Kris. He is my husband." and then moved on to another subject.


When we had indoor playtime during the rainy season in June, my students got a kick out of spelling things with dominoes -- including messages about my relationship with Kris.  This was actually a frequent inspiration for their domino creations! One time they wrote Kris' name at the doorway and made arrows pointing in to the class room.  Then they wrote my name with a heart around it.

Once Kris left me a post-it note inside my cupboard that said, "I <3 you, Kris."  I left it there, and when one of my students went into the cupboard to get something, he found the post it and told the WHOLE class about it and they all laughed and came running to look at it.


One of my girls said, "Mrs. Lauren," and held up one hand in a half heart shape, "and Mr. Kris", and held up the other hand in a half of a heart shape.  Then she put them together and said, "is THIS!"


Another time, after class was over and my students were lined up outside to get on our field trip bus, I saw Kris and was asking him if he would sweep my room for me since I was going on a field trip.  During this conversation, one of my boys scurried around us and pretended to take pictures with an imaginary camera, like paparazzi!


One day during spelling time, the spelling word was "kisses".  When I introduce new spelling words, I ask the kids to say sentences with the word to make sure they understand the word.  "Who has a sentences for 'kisses'?" I asked.  Giggling, most of the students put their hands in the air. "Okay," I added, "who has a sentence for 'kisses' that is not about me or Mr. Kris?"  Immediately all the hands fell!  Later that same week, I was saying the spelling words for them to practice.   I gave a sentence with the word, which was the only MeySen appropriate sentence I could think of: "I think it is silly when the dog kisses the cat."  One of the girls, without missing a beat, said, "I think Mrs. Lauren is the cat and Mr. Kris is the dog."


One boy made this origami for Kris and I (but not all the pieces are pictured).  It is Mr. Kris and I with 2 chairs, a table, and a wall for the kitchen!  When he gave it to me, he had us both (a blue Kris and a pink Lauren) sitting in chairs at the table.  Adorable!

Every week this same boy tries to get Kris to come into our class when he first arrives by saying things like, "Mrs. Lauren needs to talk to you about something important!" or "Mrs. Lauren made pizza for you!".


Greg's class, the other 3rd grade class, is also intrigued by mine and Kris' relationship.  One of his students wrote this story about us.

"One day Mr. Cris and Mrs. Lauren said, lets eat dinner together. At dinner time they talk about tommarow date. He said, "lets go shoping tomaro." "Oh! Yes! [the exclamation points were made of hearts]" said the Mrs. Lauren. "And then let's eat a lunch together! [another heart] Let's eat pancake."

When they were learning how to make Venn diagrams, two of Greg's students made this venn diagram about us.


Mr. Kris - boy, big, Kris
Mrs. Lauren - girl, small, Lauren
Both  - teacher, people, the wanted to mary [sic]

One of the Christmas songs that the regluar friends club students are learning has lyrics that say "Christmas is a time to love" three times in a row.  They have hand motions for a tree and a heart that they do while they sing the words "Christmas" and "love".  One day my class was in the big hall with regular friends club for an assembly.  "Christmas is a time to love" was playing in the hall and kids were singing and doing the motions.  Instead of making a heart with his hand, my student pointed one finger at me and another finger at Kris, who was about 20 feet away!

Do you see how cute my kids are?!?!  They make being married and even better thing!

Giving It Another Go

This week we signed our contracts for 2012.  That's right: we've decided to stay another year.  Though we are sad that we will be away from our friends and family for another year, we are really excited about sticking around for another year.  Staying for another year was what we both wanted, so we felt that such a mutual agreement was a sign that God wanted us to stay too.

For us, the decision was easy:  We are both really enjoying our jobs and have gotten positive feedback from our supervisors; living in Japan has been a fun adventure that we don't want to end yet; we've made some good friends (and I've got an AWESOME grade level partner who keeps me laughing and helps teaching be easy-peezy-lemon-squeezy) and our salaries are enough that we don't have to worry about money (though we still live frugally so that we can save up our money for a down payment on a house someday).  As I've told many of my family members, MeySen is a teacher's dream and I can't imagine teaching anywhere else (at least for the time being).  After getting used to short work days, plenty of prep time, a class size of 13, opportunities to build friendships with students, and ADORABLE kids, I may have to retire from teaching when I return to the States! haha! 

We both prayed about our decision to stay and feel that God wants us to be here.  Teaching at MeySen gives us an incredible opportunity to share the gospel with kids that come from non-Christian homes.  I get to read the Bible to my 3rd grade students every day and talk to them about God openly, though their families are not Christian and some of them are not either.  God is continuing using us to share his message of grace and forgiveness and love and redemption with the kids of Japan, so as long as He wants us to be here, we will be here.

Thank you to all our friends and family who continue to love and support us from across the ocean.  We wish we had a teleporter so that we could come and see you (and eat American food) more often.

Osaka

This delayed post is about the 2nd half of our Kyoto and Osaka anniversary trip.  After taking a train from Kyoto, we arrived in Osaka and checked in to our hotel.  I've heard it said that Osaka is the easiest city in Japan to navigate for foreigners, but we did not find this to be the case.  The subway system was a little confusing for us -- much more so than Tokyo.

After checking into our hotel, we headed to the Umeda Sky Building to get an Aeriel view of the city.  The Umeda Sky Building is made of 2 Skyscrapers that connect at the two top most floors (the Floating Garden Observatory) via a large, round bridge and 2 escalators.  While it's not the tallest building in Osaka, the 360-degree view was really nice; especially because we went at sunset so we got to see the city as the buildings reflected the rosy glow of sunset and then we got to view the city lights at night. The view is just beautiful.  Seeing Osaka from so far up, we couldn't get over the incredible vastness of the city.  The 3rd largest city in Japan, Osaka seemingly spreads out forever.  Its sprawling buildings, twisting highways of traffic, and fast pace, give it a much different feeling than the smaller, cozier, shrine-filled Kyoto.


Umeda Sky Building



Umeda Sky Building - escalators

Me at the top of the Floating Garden Observatory

View from Floating Garden Observatory

View from Floating Garden Observatory -- the red Ferris wheel is the one we rode.

The top floor of the Floating Garden Observatory was completely open air, so we were able to see all over the city.  At night, the path glowed with purple and green black-light paint splotches.  The lower floor of the observatory had a cafe and cozy love seats for couples to sit and look out at the night sky.


Loveseats in side the Floating Garden Observatory



Us

This ribbon was for breast cancer awareness (we were here in October, afterall)



The side of the building was lit up for breast cancer awareness


Part of the basement of the Umeda Sky Building was designed to look like streets from 20th Century Showa-era Osaka.  We enjoyed strolling these replica streets.  Here we found an AMAZING okonomiyaki restaurant where we ate dinner. (Okonomiyaki is like a savory cabbage-filled pancake; the batter and the taste varies by region in Japan)  We knew we were getting the authentic stuff because the small place was packed with locals, the owner spoke barely any English, and the menu was a simple sheet of paper handwritten in only Japanese.  We were able to communicate that we wanted okonomiyaki with pork.  I can't even explain how AMAZING and mouthwatering and different from the okonomiyaki of northern Japan it was.  It was so delicious that we went back for dinner on our last night in Osaka.

Basement of Umeda Sky Building

Basement of Umeda Sky Building

The chef makes our okonomiyaki.


After dinner, we went to the Hep Five building where we rode a 75-meter Ferris wheel that stands on top of the building.  The Ferris wheel was enclosed with glass so you could see all around the city but didn't have to worry about the wind.  Inside each car were iPod speakers, so we plugged in our iPhone and and a romantic spin in the Ferris wheel.



On our second day in Osaka we headed to Universal Studios.  Though the rides are largely outdated and feature movies from the 80s or 90s, it is still fun.  Some of the ride got lost in translation, as the shows and speaking parts of the ride are all in Japanese, but we still enjoyed it.  Because we went in the middle of the week in October, we didn't have to wait long for rides (our longest wait was 30 minutes), and even got to go on our favorite rides multiple times.  The best ride was Space Fantasy, which is a new ride that replaced the ET Ride (though ET makes a guest appearance in this ride).  It is an indoor roller coaster (similar to the Exterminator at Kennywood), that makes you feel like you are on a rocket ship in space.  I can't even describe how awesome the special effects are, except to say that it really feels and looks like you are flying through space.  We went on it 3 times!

For a moment I thought we really were in America!

Us with the iconic globe

People dressed festively for Halloween

Me at 123 Sesame Street

Japan takes cute a step too far.

I take it back -- THIS is taking cute too far.  Is it Hello Kitty wearing an Elmo costume or is Elmo eating Hello Kity?  You decide!

Sesame Street has been Japanized!



Gift giving is an important part of Japanese culture.  It is common when people go on a trip to buy gifts for others.  At Universal Studios the shops are filled with cute gifts like this one.  Yes, that's right, it's Snoopy Ramen Cup Noodles!

 Many of the people walking around in Universal were either wearing Halloween garb (ie witches hats, pumpkin shirts, or black and orange) or were decked out in Sesame Street or Hello Kitty paraphernalia.  Kris was a very good husband and humored me when I really wanted to see the Sesame Street 3D show (mind you, it was all in Japanese).  At the end of the night we saw a parade of light-up floats.  It was really pretty, but since the floats were fairy-tale themed, it kind of seemed like a Disney rip-off.

Hello Kitty float in Starlight Parade

ELMO!!!!!!!!!!!!



Genie float from "Aladdin" portion of parade -- see what I mean about it feeling like a Disney rip off?

Overall it was a cool park with fun rides and cool decor, but it wasn't done as well and as dramatically as Disney.  If you are planning to go to only one theme park in Japan and are trying to decide between Disney and Universal, you should go to DisneyLand or DisneySea.  The atmosphere is superior and overall I think you get more of what you pay for.  Especially if you don't speak Japanese.

After we got back from Universal, I was exhausted (we both were), but we didn't have any clean clothes left and our hotel didn't have laundry machines.  So Kris was absolutely wonderful and took the laundry several blocks away to a laundromat and cleaned them so I didn't have to worry about it -- even though he was getting sick.  He really is an amazing husband and takes such good care of me.

For the third day in Osaka, we went to the Osaka Castle and the Osaka Peace Museum.  Though we had to do a lot of walking in the rain to get to the castle, we were relieved to discover that there was a museum inside the castle, so we could hide out from the rain.  Once again, we ran into groups of school children who practiced their English with us and gave us origami.  I got a little more brave at practicing my Japanese with them, but still didn't say more than a few sentences.

Osaka Castle

Kris at Osaka Castle

Lauren at Osaka Castle

After that, we went to the Osaka International Peace Center, a museum that documents the horrors of war.  It focuses primarily on World War II.  It was interesting to hear what it was like for civilians on the "other side" of the war.  The museum wasn't against Americans (as I had anticipated), but it seemed to disapprove of war altogether (and the Nazis' genocide of the Jewish people).  It was interesting to learn how Japanese forces treated Koreans -- recruiting them for forced labor and establishing laws to try to rid them of their cultural heritage and practices-- during the war.

Replica of a typical Japanese home in Osaka during WWII

On our last day in Osaka, it continued to rain, so we headed to the Osaka Aquarium to get out of the rain.  The aquarium is one of the largest in the world and features from the Pacific rim, including sharks, a whale shark, seals, and dolphins.  It has one huge cylindrical tank in the center that is 9 meters tall and that the rest of the aquarium wraps around.   My favorite part, of course, was seeing the dolphins at feeding time, when the trainers were in the tanks with them and they were performing tricks and playing together.

At Osaka Aquarium

I wish these dolphins were real!



Dolphin feeding time!

Inside the shark tank

Those are some big crabs!  Kris thought they would be very tasty!

Osaka Aquarium - notice the size of it compared to the people

After the walking around the aquarium, we went to a nearby mall where there was a teen hip hop dance competition.  Many of the groups danced to American hip hop music that was not censored (because they are Japanese and don't know what it is saying).  I have not heard so many f-bombs at a dance show in my life!  Many of the groups had used makeup to darken their skin so that they appeared to have a more "urban" and "African" look.  It was really weird!

Hip Hop dancers looking "urban-ified"

We took the night bus back to Sendai and got very little sleep, so we were glad we had the next day to recover before going back to work.  It was a wonderful way to spend our 2nd anniversary!

Kyoto

   To celebrate our anniversary in the middle of October, Kris and I took a week-long trip to Kyoto and Osaka, which are south of Tokyo on the main island of Japan (Honshu).  Our anniversary happened to fall in the middle of a few Japanese holidays, so we got a whole week off and only had to use 3 vacation days.  We took an overnight but from Sendai to Kyoto, which took about 13 hours.  It wasn't too bad for me because the bus was pretty empty and I could sprawl out across the seats.


   After dropping off our bags at the hotel (Hokke Club Hotel Kyoto), which was across the street from the main subway, JR, and bus station, and stopping at Starbucks, we headed over to the Higashiyama area of Kyoto in the east.  This part of Kyoto is just amazing!  It is full of temples and shrines (so many that it can be overwhelming), but the best part of this area is the "traditional feel" it gives you as you weave through its narrow streets.  Many of the buildings and roads feel as though they are over a century old. It's hard to describe it in words, so you'll have to just look at the pictures.


   We loved Kyoto, especially since we took in the sights at a leisurely pace and just enjoyed being together.


   On our first day in eastern Kyoto we saw Sanjusangen-do, the longest wooden building in Japan filled with 1001 gold statues of Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy.  Then we walked up some back roads along a cemetery to get to Kiyomizu Temple, a temple built on a mountain.  After that, we wound through the old streets of Hagishiyama and found places to shop and a small restaurant to eat Japanese food.  Continuing our walk through eastern Kyoto, we stopped at Kodaji Temple, a small temple with a beautiful garden and bamboo trees and small tea houses.  We also briefly stopped at Higashi Otani Masoleum before continuing on to Maruyama Park, which was a delightful little park we enjoyed strolling through.  After a full day of trekking around Eastern Kyoto, we were exhausted, so we called it an early night and relaxed in our hotel room and took a stroll through the streets around our hotel.

Kris in front of a garden at Sanjusangen-do Temple.

Me in front of the main hall a Sanjusangendo Temple

Very cool trim on a shrine.  I love the contrasting brown and white style of this time period.

Cemetery -- notice how close together and tall the grave markers are.  People in Japan get cremated  instead of buried.  Ancestral worship is very important to them.

Deva Gate at Kiyomizu-dera

Kris and I at a spot at Kiyomizu-dera overlooking Kyoto

Pagoda at Kiyomizudera

One young Japanese girl leading another through the love stones.  In Kiyomizudera is a small shrine that has 2 stones.  According to legend, if you walk between the two stones with your eyes closed, you will find your true love.

The man hall of Kiyomizu-dera
Local legend says that if you make a wish and jump off the terrace and survive the fall, your wish will come true.  The survival rate for jumpers was approximately 85% when the tradition was outlawed.

Old-feeling streets in eastern Kyoto

Two apprentice geisha in eastern Kyoto.  Yes, there are still the real-deal geisha in Japan.

Memorial hall and garden at Kodaji Temple

A tea house at Kodaji Temple.  No, it is not a replica - that is the actual teahouse.  Yes, it really is that small.  Yes, it was really used for tea ceremonies.

Bamboo garden at Kodaji Temple

Mani Wheels
These small wheels surrounded one shrine at the temple.  According to tradition, if you have a wish about health or a long life, walk around the temple and spin each wheel with your right hand, and your wish will come true.

Ornate gate at Higashi Otani Masoleum

Me at Maruyama park

  On our second day, which was also our anniversary, Kris brought me breakfast in bed from Starbucks -- how sweet!  Enjoyed a nice breakfast in bed and then explored Nishi Market.  Because it was a week day, there weren't many people in the market -- which was fine with us.  We've lived in Japan long enough to experience enough large-packed-in-like-sardines-crowds.

Nishi Market

Store just for rice!  We must be in Asia!

Gross looking food...oh Japan!

   Then we headed over to Nijo Castle, which was once a dwelling place for the Shogun and was later used as an Imperial Palace.  One of the coolest parts about this castle are the "nightingale floors".  To protect the people living in the castle, the builders constructed floors that would squeak loudly (like nightingales) whenever someone walked on them.  When we walked through the inside of the castle (which was really a bunch of empty tatami rooms), the floors did squeak loudly and it was nearly impossible to walk on them without making them squeak.  To do so, I had to tiptoe around slowly and carefully.

Kris in front of an inner gate at Nijo Castle

Kris and I in front of Ninomaru Palace at Nijo Castle

Us with the big group of kids who practiced their English with us.

Garden and pond inside Nijo Castle

Inner Palace of Nijo Castle

   To take a break from all the temples and shrines (they start to blend together after a while), we took a bus ride to Arashiyama (about 20 minutes outside of the city center) where there is a monkey park.  To get to the monkeys, we had to climb for a half an hour up a STEEP hill (the kind of hill that would be called a mountain in Pennsylvania -- haha) to get to the top.  Towards the top, monkeys walked and climbed freely all around the path.  At the top of the hill was a lookout area to sit and look out over Kyoto and also a small hut.  All around the top of the hill, monkeys were climbing, eating, playing, scurrying, and resting.  IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!


   We went inside the hut, where we bought a small bag of food for 100 yen (about $1.20) to feed to the monkeys.  The windows were open but covered with wire, so you could reach out your fingers to feed the monkeys, who would come up and grab the food out of your hand.  One person feeding the animals wasn't to careful, and the monkey almost grabbed his camera and DID grab the whole bag of food.


   The cutest part were the baby monkeys that had been born 4 months earlier in July.  It was really fun to feed them and to watch them run around and play.

Monkeys and the view from Monkey Hill

Kris feeds a monkey.

I'm feeding the cute baby monkey!

Us at the top of Monkey Hill

Me with the monkeys at the top of Monkey Hill

Funny sign along the path

Mama and baby!

Monkey family

   In the evening, we took in a show of traditional Japanese arts at Gion Corner.  While it was interesting to see a demonstration of 7 different Japanese arts, the performances were very amateur and not worth the money we paid.  I wish instead we had been able to take in one of the specific arts performed professionally; unfortunately, the professional geisha performances only happen during certain times of the year.  
   After the show wed strolled through Gion, which has a very old and traditional feel.  There are still geisha houses where geisha live, and tea houses where geisha go to entertain.  We even saw two geisha walking through the small, old streets.  Then we headed to Tony Romo's, to celebrate our anniversary with some American-style ribs and steak.

Me in Gion

A geisha house in Gion

Two geisha demonstrate how to play the Koto Zither

This demonstration of Kyogen theater was still funny even though it was all in Japanese.

Geisha dance performance

Geisha dance performance

Bunraku puppet theater -- This one puppet was operated by 3 people.
Below is a video of the puppet in action.  This ain't no sock puppet!

   On our final day in Kyoto, we visited Kinkakuji (also known as the  Golden Pavilion).  This was my absolute favorite site in Kyoto and a must-see if you are traveling to the city.  This was a retirement villa of a shogun but became a Zen temple after his death.  The top two floors are coated in gold leaf.  Architecture buffs will likely appreciate the 3 different styles used in the villa; the bottom floor was built in the Shinden style used for palace buildings during the Heian Period, with natural wood pillars and contrasting white plaster walls.  The second floor was built in the Bukke style used in samurai residences.  The top floor was built in the style of a Chinese Zen Hall, and is topped with a golden phoenix.  The garden and pond surrounding the temple were equally as beautiful.  The whole site over all was just breathtaking.
   In the villa grounds were a few stone "wishing wells".  If you can throw a coin into a stone bowl placed among taller stones, legend says that your wish will come true.  Kris got his coin in on the second try; and although he wouldn't say what he wished for, I'm pretty sure it had to do with our office's Fantasy Football playoff games.

Golden Pavilion

Us with more kids that practiced their English with us.  Holding up a piece sign is the common thing to do when posing for a picture in Japan.

Us with the Golden Pavilion (representing Pittsburgh, baby!)

Stone wishing well

Kris tossing a coin and making a wish for playoff glory for his fantasy football team

While we stopped for a break, Kris took the opportunity to do some research for his fantasy football team.

Origami given to us by Japanese students

   Our last stop in Kyoto before continuing on to Osaka was Fushimi Inari Shrine in the southern part of Kyoto.  This shrine is dedicated to Inari, the Japanese god of rice.  What stands out about this shrine are the (literally) thousands of red torii (gates) that line the path leading to the shrine.  All the shrines have been donated by Japanese businesses (most I'm sure are hoping to earn favor from the "god" for their business), which costs ranging between 400,000-1,000,000 yen (roughly $5,100-$13,000). Because foxes were thought to be Inari's messengers, there are many fox statues throughout the grounds.


   We didn't bother climbing to the top of the mountain to the actual shrine, as the hike takes about 2-3 hours and we had already seen a gorgeous view of Japan from Monkey Hill.  But we really enjoyed walking through the grounds and going partway up the mountain.  This sight should definitely be on any Kyoto traveler's must see list.

Largest gate leading to temple grounds

Red torii at Fushimi Inari (from the back, showing the names of businesses that donated the torii)

Torii leading to Fushimi Inari

Kris with double-gated path leading to Fushimi Inari Shrine

Prayer chains (made of paper cranes) and prayer boards hang as offerings to Inari, the Japanese god of rice.

One of the fox gate keepers

   For part 2 of our trip we headed to Osaka, but that is a post for a-whole-nother day!