Our Moms Visit Japan!

On April 26, our moms Brenda and Gloria arrived in Japan to start their 12 day visit! It was really great to see each other after 8 months. We did so many great and memorable things, here are a few of the highlights from their trip!

Tea Ceremony and Dressing in Kimonos: Melissa arranged to have a tea ceremony months in advance before our moms arrived. It took a lot of planning, but it was worth it in the end! It began at 7 am on Sat. April 28 when 2 of our Japanese friends, Nobuko and Izumi, came to our apartment to dress the girls in kimonos. It takes about 45 minutes to put one person in a kimono, so we had to start several hours before the ceremony actually began to get all 5 girls dressed (Brenda, Gloria, Melissa, Chelsea, and Nikki).

Here are some pictures of us getting dressed.

When we were all dressed at 10:00, we drove to the restaurant where we were holding the tea ceremony. We reserved a room on the second floor of the restaurant. A photographer was there to take pictures of us and send some to the local newspaper...it was quite the event!

Our moms were considered the guests of honor, so they were the first to be served the green tea. Melissa's flower arranging teacher, Misayo, made the tea and our Japanese teacher, Mami, served it.

After the tea ceremony, we all ate lunch at the restaurant and then spent the rest of the day at a Japanese village called Nihon Showa Mura, which is about an hour drive from Gifu. At the village we walked around and did some archery.

Eating a Traditional Japanese Lunch:

We ate at many different kinds of restaurants during our moms visit, including Italian, Indian, Chinese, and Japanese. On their first day in Japan, we were invited to lunch with Frank's 2 adult private students, Kyoko and Machiko, to a traditional Japanese meal. We had 3 different kinds of soba noodles, some fish, rice, and a few other small dishes. During this meal, we discovered that Melissa's mom really dislikes the taste, smell, and texture of Japanese food and that Frank's mom is unable to sit on the floor due to her knee problems. The combination of the two made for an interesting lunch!

Making Japanese Paper in Mino City:

After lunch, Kyoko and Machiko invited our moms to Mino City while we went to work. Mino City is about a 1 hour drive from Gifu City and is known for Japanese paper. Spending the day with Kyoko and Machiko was very enjoyable for our moms, especially since they are all close in age. After walking around the city's shops, Brenda and Gloria had the opportunity to make paper!

Ikebana Lesson:

Melissa's mom came to watch one of Melissa's ikebana (flower arranging) lessons. The ikebana teacher requested that Melissa wear a kimono and had a photographer come and take pictures of her and Brenda during the lesson. It's so cute how they get so excited when foreigners are around!


Frank and Melissa's English Lessons:
We had to work a couple of days while our moms were here and one day they joined us for our lessons with the kids! Brenda went to Melissa's 4 classes and Gloria went to 3 of Frank's. The kids loved meeting them and asked a ton of questions, such as their favorite color, animal, food, and sport. One kid even asked their blood type!

3 Days in Kyoto:

We spent 3 packed days of sightseeing in Kyoto...see our next blog to read about our experience!

Our Last Day:

Our last day together turned out to be perfect. We went to a small cafe and had cake and coffee. There was a pianist there playing American songs on the piano. Afterwards we went shopping and ate dinner at a great Italian restaurant. We also went on a short bike ride around our neighborhood. The goodbye was tough, but we know that each day spent in Japan is a time we will all never forget!

Brenda and Gloria's Top 10 Shockers!

While our moms, Brenda and Gloria, were visiting, they decided to compose a list of the things in Japan that shocked them most. Since we have lived here for 9 months now, we are so accustomed to Japanese culture that it was fun to see their reactions to things! Here is a list of their top 10 shockers!

1. Toilets: From the squatter toilets to the Western toilets with heated seats, this ranked #1 on the list of differences! The squatter toilets were always dreaded, but they looked forward to using the Western toilets with the heated seats and various buttons. On most of the Western toilets, there is a button labeled "Flush Sound." This provides a flushing sound so women can't hear each other going to the bathroom. Before we told our moms about this button, Frank's mom Gloria, kept pushing the "Flush Sound" button and waiting for the toilet to flush. She said she could hear it flushing, but nothing was happening! There are also buttons for cleansing, deodorising, and massaging...we're not quite sure how all of these work though! They also found the toilet slippers interesting. At most restaurants and homes, you have to remove your slippers or shoes when entering the toilet and put on toilet slippers. Using the restroom turned out to be a complicated process at first!

2. Power Lines: Our moms were fascinated with the power lines towering over the streets of Japan. Unlike our neatly assembled power lines in America, the ones here look like they've been knotted together and thrown up on a wooden pole. If someone ever needed to locate 1 wire, we're not sure how they could ever find it!

3. Masks: The #3 shocker of Japanese culture were the masks. When someone is sick or has allergies, they often wear a white mask over their mouth while they are out in public. They do this in order to not spread germs to other people or to protect themselves from the pollen. Children wear masks as well. They even make them with cute patterns and cartoons on them.

4. Small Cars: Our moms were so surprised with the cars in Japan. Although many of the cars here are a regular mid-sized car, there are many smaller cars as well. Here is a picture of Frank driving one of our company cars.

5. Narrow Streets: The streets in Japan are amazingly narrow. Usually it looks like a one-way street, but 2 cars are expected to travel on them.

6. Buildings under Construction: Another difference our mothers noticed was the covering put over all buildings while they are under construction. If a house, apartment, or business is being built or remodeled, a type of tarp is covered over the outside of the building. We are not sure if this is for appearance or safety purposes.

7. No Paper Towels or Soap in Restrooms: In Japan, everyone carries a small hand towel in their pocket or purse in order to dry their hands while they are in public. The children even carry them while they are at school. At some public restrooms they provide electric hand-dryers, but almost everyone uses their own towel. There is usually no soap also, which is very ironic to us considering they are so health and germ conscious!

8. Shoes On...Shoes Off...Shoes On...Shoes Off: Our moms were shocked with the "shoe rules" here in Japan! At restaurants, temples, homes, schools, and even some businesses, we had to remove our shoes and wear the provided slippers. There are some places you cannot even wear the slippers, such as walking onto a tatami floor or using the restroom. It takes some getting used to!

9. So Many Vending Machines: You cannot walk more than a block in Japan without encountering a vending machine. They are everywhere and provide almost anything...such as cold drinks, hot drinks, beer, cigarettes, soup, and we've even seen some with hamburgers and hot dogs! Our moms especially loved the cold milk tea in the vending machines. An interesting thing is that if a vending machine is in front of someones home, it is most likely owned by that family, which means they are scattered throughout neighborhoods as well.

10. Japanese-Style Hotel: When we went on a trip to Kyoto, we stayed in a ryokan, which is a Japanese-style hotel. This was definitely a shocker for our moms! We all stayed in one room and slept on futons on the tatami-mat floor. Our pillows were filled with beans and our shower was a community shower located 2 floors down from our room. You can't get more traditional than this!

Our moms both said their trip made for life-long memories to cherish and a deep appreciation and respect for the Japanese people and culture. Although they were shocked at many things, experiencing these differences is what made the trip so exciting!