Bicycles

Bicycles:  Bicycles are everywhere!  They even have their own parking lots near the train station.   Almost everyone rides pedal pushers as a mode of transportation.  I've only seen one person with a road bike that looks like a 21 speed.   

The bikes have this handy dandy kick stand.  I am guessing the black wire is part of a locking mechanism.  

These handler bar covers protect the riders hands from the sun.

This biker rider has an older child in the back, a younger childer in the front, two bags and an umbrella.    She is waiting to cross the street at a cross walk.

One of my favorite bikers was a women in a three piece suit with a pair of 3 inch high heels!

Hummingbird for Birdie

Hummingbird for Birdie:   At Hummingbirds Learning Center there are many pictures of hummingbirds.  There are drawings and photographs, and paintings.

Here is the most recent import all the way from Mansfield, OH the stained glass Hummingbird made for birdie by Joe.  It looks gorgeous flying proud in the lobby looking for Japanese Morning Glories.

The Japanese Morning Glories are outside my back door.  The Morning Glories Sue and I planted beneath her porch when we were tweens were very small in comparison.  Maybe a third of there size.  The pink in the center radiates outward like the veins of a leaf.  The petals are a very striking shade of light blue, almost an indigo color.   

Pickles

Pickles:  We made pickles today.  Haru and Ushiru cut up the prickly cucumbers, radishes, carrots, and green peppers with zig zag cheese cutter.  Haru added coarse salt and Kokuro added two tablespoons of vinegar. 

Kokuro put the lid on and sucked the air out with a pump to create a vacuum.

Then the fun began.  Each of the children big and small took turns shaking the jar.   

Ushiru was my favorite.  He held the jar still and nodded his head!

Jack and the Beanstalk or Masaaki and the Watermelon Vine

Jack and the Beanstalk or Masaaki and the Watermelon Vine:  In a land of 10,000 yen ($100 US) watermelon Masaaki traded in his hotels for some magic seeds.  He planted them at Hummingbirds Learning Center and filled them with the love of dozens of young children.  They romped through garden riding pedal-less bikes and running a store in a red wooden playhouse. They laughed and ran through the furrows chasing friends in the summer heat.  Pictures of fruit painted on wooden slats showed the children when the fruit was large enough to harvest.  One watermelon exceeded all expectations.  It grew and it grew and it grew until it weighed 10 pounds.  Along came a giant from America  fee fie foe-ing.  Masaaki had no idea what to do.  So he called together all the children and made a plan.  Quickly they sliced and diced the watermelon and shared it with everyone, even the giant. In that selfless act of generosity Masaaki and the children made a new friend.   

Adirondack Shiver Blanket

The Adirondacks visit Japan shiver blanket style.   32 rows completed between Sunday in New York and Tuesday night in Osaka with the 13 hour time change.  The box contains what I would call Japanese clementines.  It was my first purchase at the Co-Op.  

Dial 7, JFK and China Airlines

I Dialed 7 and was picked up at Stewart Airport (yes FL friends Stewart not Stuart) by a Chinese driver.  Thanks Mom and Dad for dropping me off.  I miss you and Happy Hour already.   My driver was very informative.   China Airlines is not from Mainland China it is from Tiawan.  It is a good thing he knew the difference because there is also Air China which leaves JFK from a different terminal.   The trip down was great.  It was awesome to see the Frogs Neck Bridge aka the Throgs Neck Bridge and NYC.  I even got to see the Planisphere at the site of the US Open.  I got dropped off at JFK Terminal 4.  I couldn't find China airlines so I asked someone with a walkie talkie.   She said after the Emerites flight left they would take down the signs and put up the China Airlines signs.   And they did!   The wait at the terminal was fine.  I am making a new Adirondack Shiver Blanket with some variegated pink yarn.  Mom was right it helped pass the time and is a new project for a new adventure.   The flight was great.  They have this map of the world on a screen and as your flight progresses the airplane moves on the map.   I saw the Long Island Sound, the Hudson River, the Finger Lakes, four of the Great Lakes, and Niagra Falls!  I think they should have a geologist give a little commentary as they fly over.  My mistake was to go to the bathroom.  While I was gone they closed all the window shades.  I met my new boss Birdie and drove an hour to my new home away from home.  I didn't get homesick until it took me a half hour to figure out how to flush the toilet.

A list of things to remember:

A four year old Indian girl in a lime green dress with gold trim and hot pink sneakers

A television camera taking videos of the Jewish men leaving for Isreal

The statuesque Emerites Flight Attendants in the pill box hats with a white scarf hanging down the right side

The Chinese Airlines Attendents closing the drapes to their little work area so they could put on little pink aprons over their mauve suits

The six foot three blond boy and his travel companion doing yoga in the terminal

Seeing Niagra Falls from the plane

 Getting fingerprinted by the visa men in their raised box

Seeing the irregular landscape of Japan from the air and the Kobe Airport built on the water

Not seeing Kansai airport until we were just above the water and ready to land

Getting excited to see car dealerships because I could read the words

The sticky humidity of the air

Trying to get in the car on the wrong side

Seeing jiggly puff on a package at the coop

Tiny Steps in Sassy Socks

Tiny Steps in Sassy Socks:   Today I received my Certificate of Eligibility for entry into Japan.   It was obtained by my sponsor in Japan from the Department of Ministry and FedEx'ed to me in New York.  The part I still can't wrap my mind around is that you have to give the Japanese Consulate the following information to get your work visa:  my passport with a blank page, the certificate mentioned above, a two page passport application (photo from within 1 month, the address you will be residing at, your sponsor's birthdate so you don't forget to give him a present, when you will be arriving, etc.), a liability release form (in case all your information is lost or stolen), a copy of your driver's license, and a return envelope with 16+ stamps on it.   The one that takes the proverbial cake is a copy of your flight itinerary.   They have four to seven days to process your paperwork, unless there is a problem, then it can take up to two months.   Luckily, being the Renaissance woman that I am, I bought travel protection for $56 so I can change my ticket if the visa doesn't arrive in time. 

Ode to Sassy Socks

Black socks, blue socks, in your shoe socks

Striped socks, plaid socks, five little toe socks

Knee socks, Elite socks, two left feet socks,

By the bag or by the batch, take your socks and mix and match

Short socks, tall socks, in a ball socks

Ripped socks, darned socks, Sassy knits with balls of yarn socks,

Ankle socks, crew socks, pairs and pairs of brand new socks

Argyle socks, print socks, full of lint socks.