As It Goes

Today it is Vernal Equinox Day, a national holiday in Japan for the admiration of nature and the love of living things. I spent the latter half of my day working in my garden so I feel like I did my part. I planted a few flowers and tomorrow if the weather permits I’m going to plant the vegetables: Japanese pumpkin, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, spring onions, broccoli, and some leafy looking that is supposed to be good in miso soup. I’ll post pictures as soon as I make a little more progress.

This morning I took Koko to the airport and before I had time to get back to my place in Nagashima she had already safely arrived in Tokyo. While visiting Nagashima she caught my cold so the entire time she was here we were coughing and sneezing. Despite our sluggish condition, we decided to take a short road trip to
Kumamoto for sight seeing and onsen last weekend. We drove for a little less than five hours into the mountains until finally arriving to our destination. When checking in we asked where we could get something to eat and the man working at the onsen lodge smiled and replied, “didn’t you bring you own food?”

Although the lodge provided a kitchen for the guests to use it didn’t do us much good because we didn’t have anything to cook. Additionally, being that we were in the middle of no where driving back down the mountain in search food was the last thing either one of us wanted to do. We decided to check out the kitchen to see what it looked like and in the kitchen, perhaps, we thought maybe we could devise a dinner plan.

The kitchen was packed with a party of happily eating and drinking people. Food was everywhere and Koko and I both peered through the window thinking the same thing – we wanted to eat. Someone quickly noticed us at the widow and motioned for us to come in and eat with them. Playing by the rules of social etiquette we politely thanked them for their kindness and said something like there was no way we could crash their party. Thankfully they asked again and in fear that they might change their mind the second time around we accepted their invitation without hesitation. We were lucky that night.

As we got to know them we found out that once a year they go to the same onsen lodge for a weekend getaway. We learned that they all work together making Toto toilets. They said that when Koko and I get married if we buy a Toto toilet then that would our payment for dinner. We agreed that this was fair. One man amongst the group used to live in Atlanta, Georgia for six years. While he was little timid at first by the end of the night he warmed up to me and he was even speaking a little English.

On Saturday morning we were both feeling pretty lousy and even though we really wanted to go a farm in Kumamoto to milk cows we decided we had better get back home and rest. I had to stop about three times to nap along the way so I wouldn’t fall asleep while driving.



The next day Koko and I went to church to say goodbye to the Smith Family (Norman, Susan, Cameron, Chloe and Melodie), a missionary family that had been living in Nagashima for two years. Since my first day on the island they have been really great to me and it was sad seeing them leave. Believe it or not there are actually two churches in Nagashima. The one I attend is a Baptist Church started by Pastor Kishimoto about twenty years ago. There are about fifty regular attending members. I sit and listen to the sermons each Sunday with a notebook and electronic dictionary. Many times I leave church not really knowing exactly what was said that morning and actually I have grown to like it this way. It allows room for me to fill in the blanks of what I didn’t understand with my own thoughts and rationalizations, thus, allowing me to create my own sermons.

Tomorrow is the last day of school and spring break begins from Friday. Curtis and I will be working in the office for the next two weeks and when the kids return we will be changing schools for the next school year. It should be good getting to know the new faculty and students. More to come.

Good night,
Spencer