March Eleventh

3.11

It's been one year since the earthquake here in Japan.
There are many TV specials today, telling the stories of the people who have struggled. However, in just that one year, they have come a long way in cleaning up the damage. Of course, the homes and the people who were lost cannot be brought back...but I hope everyone is thinking about them today...and that those who have suffered can keep healing...


On Wednesday we went to harvest shiitake. I had never seen so many in my life. Like a fantasy. But with four people it probably only took 2 hours or so to harvest them, and fill the back of the little truck. In the afternoon we went to the shiitake drying house and lined them up on the trays for the machine. Then we went back to the farm and sorted most of the rest of the shiitake into boxes. I had never done that before...maybe because there wasn't really a situation for me to do it because Hiro and Hitomi always did...maybe because there wasn't ever this many shiitake while I've been here. So Megumi, Hitomi and I sorted them into boxes while Hiro packaged the boxes with newspaper and string. After that Muto-san took Megumi and me to the "Ichiba" where all the local farmers bring their produce and then from there they are sold to markets and stores. It was a 40 minute drive. When we got back to the farm Muto-san said we were going to the onsen! Which I was happy about, because I had been itching to go. So we went off again. Megumi and I spent most of the time in the outdoor pool but quickly toured the other indoor pools - except for the cold one. After that we had dinner there. I ordered teriyaki chicken and they got fried chicken chunks (Karage). It came with salad bar, rice and soup. I ate all my food and one of Muto-san's chicken peices (because he's on a diet). I should be on a diet too, I've gained weight!!!!!!

Friday we didn't do a lot of work because all afternoon we prepared for our dinner: bread, pizza and ribs baked in the pizza oven outside. Muto-san had never baked bread there before. In the bread machine in the house we made the dough. We made the pizzas first then followed it bread. Megumi-san made wiener rolls and I tried out cutting apple into little bits, and mixing that with cinnamon and walnuts, thinning the dough then rolling - little by little- the filling into the dough. It was like a cinnamon roll, but not really sweet. I personally I thought it was really good! It all came out fabulously. The ribs, the pizzas and the bread:D Our last dinner.

I am making plans to visit Megumi in Kagoshima briefly before coming home...I'm already looking forward to that.

On Saturday Muto-san drove us to Kikuchi and from there, Makoto-san picked Megumi and I up. I thought he was just going to take us to Kumamoto Station but it ended up being an excursion! He took us to Aso Shrine and Aso crater. At the shrine there was a little circular garden where if you put a coin in the box then walk around the garden twice, you will find your partner soon. So the three of us did that, since we are all single. Then we did a different fortune where there were five levels of luckiness and you pick out the little papers (not know what is what) for 100 yen. I got the best one! Maybe that cancels the bad one I got before..:P and the charm that got in the package was for protection of family... which I think is a good one to have gotten, considering the circumstances. Saturday was a beautiful the day, the first in a week. The grasses on Aso were golden and the sky blue and with wispy clouds. The crater was closed due to the strong gases, but we went to the tourist center there and ate ikinaridango (sweet potato and anko dumpling) and chatted for a little bit before heading out. When we had come up the mountain, we'd seen a woman walking down the road - a foreigner. When we driving down ourselves, we saw she still had a long way to go so I asked Makoto-san if maybe we could give her a ride. He said sure so I ran to where she was walking and asked if she spoke English, she said yes so well I thought she must be American, but I soon found out she was a college student from Denmark spending some time in Japan before she has to go back to study. She knew a little Japanese too. She was quiet and seemed a little defensive, but we offered her black sugar biscuits, botan candy, orange caramels and a can of coffee and she seemed to warm up to us a little. We dropped her off at the Aso station and Makoto then took us to Kumamoto. They dropped me off right at the Fukuda's house. It was fun and I was grateful for their company.

At the Fukuda's I fell right back into where I left off, feeling at home and relaxed. We had chicken, pumpkin and green beans sauteed with curry flavor as well as soup and salad. We talked and took turns taking a bath. I slept like a baby.

Today we went to Minamata near Amakusa today. We went to a place called "Fukuda Farm", a fruit and vegetable farm in the mountains that now runs a Spanish style little tourist restaurant, bakery and winery. It made me want to go to Spain! For lunch we ate there a set of seafood rice dish. It was really delicious. It also came with a drink, so I ordered an orange juice made there. That was really yummy too.
 There was a room upstairs that seemed like a shrine for turtles. There were tons and tons of turtle toys and trinkets and things... we thought the boss of the place must just really like turtles.  The whole area was made with white stucco-like buildings and had tile and mosaic patios and furniture outside. Apparently the scenery looks similar to Spain in the summer... which is why there is  Spanish theme to the place. It was fun:) As we were leaving a Spanish Flamingo Dance started...

Then we went to the Minamata town, where there is a museum. Minamata is famous for what happened about 50 years ago. A factory, Chisso, was dumping mercury sledge into the bay as waste from their factory. Despite the fact that they knew it caused health problems, they continued because at the time they were the lead of the industrialization boom, I believe, in Japan. A while after they started fish and shell fish started dying. Then cats started dying and having seizure like symptons. Next, it was humans. This is because people ate the fish that were contaminated by the sledge from the chemical factory. There are still issues about it today... It was very sad to read about different people's experiences. They didn't know what was causing this "disease" at first and people didn't know it wasn't contagious so at first when someone got it, the town shut them and their family out, telling them things like they couldn't buy from their store, that they shouldn't walk down the streets and did things like throw rocks at the windows... but before long even those who had been mean got the disease too...it was written that some of people's last words were apologizing for the terrible things they did to isolate those first families... Patients were and are being compensated monetarily for their suffering...but there is so much more that money cannot take the place of.

The ocean was beautiful. The light was soft because of all the dust in the air that apparently floats to this area during this time of year from China. Blue skies. Swooping seagulls. Strong winds. We prayed briefly for those who suffered so much one year ago...

We have been watching TV about different people's experiences with the tsunami. Some of the footage is surreal. There was a clip from someone standing on a mountain looking down at the nearing wave of water, houses, cars and trees while people were running to escape it. One person was a little behind the others, running but obviously not quick enough. The man stopped filming that person right before we could know if that person was gone or might still be alive today. I have this terrible feeling in my gut that they didn't make it... it was too close.

We see those kinds of things in movies all the time...but it different when you know it is real. That that could be you or your family member or friend running...but not running fast enough.

We ate gyoza for dinner and broccoli fresh from the garden.

Tomorrow I am going to try to make banana bread, possibly try to walk up 3,333 steps and hopefully help in Keichan's garden.