First from English parts

"Mum, when are we going to get 'examined'?" L asked AFTER we got through the passport section in Korea. She has travelled so well in all the time changes and hours sitting on planes and in queues. On a twelve hour flightyesterday I had to work hard to get her to get out of her chair even 3 times. When we arrived at Heathrow I was grilled by the immigration official about being a minister and why my partner was in Japan. I wasn't sure if it was laid back chatting while the scanner chugged away (everything moves slow at Heathrow) or that I genuinely looked suspicious. I admit I felt dreadful. Whatever the case I was just relieved to have been pulled out of a 2.5 hour queue (because I had a child) just 30 minutes into the wait. It has been sooo lovely to see M&A and their 3. B has completely lost her Aussie accent and the children all look at me queerly when I talk about patting the rabbit (should be 'stroking') etc. They are so cute going off to school. M took a day off today and we talked lots of family and emerging church stuff in the car as we travelled the country roads from Daventry to Coughton Court. The tiny 700 year old church in the country village near Daventry (where the gunpowder plot was hatched) was more memorable than the tourist driven Stratsford-upon-Avon we finished the drive at. It is too cold to meet in during winter so they meet in the town hall. The village homes are complete with thatched roofs and window boxes. Tomorrow we are off to Legoland for a completely different experience with all the children very excited. G, J is into star wars - we'll have fun there and with the roboticworkshop, I think! I'm hoping we sleep past 4 am tomorrow morning. L and I had watched "The other Bolelyn girl" on the plane so we have theHenry VIII/Elizabeth I story fresh in our minds... At Coughton Court (hometo a loyal Catholic family) we saw the gown (and death mask) Mary Queen of Scots was executed in (macabre, truly) and a beautiful cloak embroidered byCatherine of Avalon after she had been discarded by Henry VIII. The cloak was a very Catholic statement of faith. I found the indoor 'heritage' interesting but oppressive. I think I know why the family handed the property over - how could you possibly live in such a place with all those forbears hanging over your shoulders with every meal, walk, conversation??Such a huge focus on preserving the 'relics' of the past seems to me a frustrating and tiring task for the descendents of a family. I love the stories, but when the past clutters every corner there is NO space to enjoy the present or dream of the future. A highlight today was the walled garden at this National Trust property. We walked lots and basked in the joy of all the summer flowers in both rain and sunshine. Yes, it does shine in the UK!

King Ghiddra, okonomiyaki and public transport

Hi all, yesterday was a massive day - because I had to go to Waseda Uni high school for an appointment at 2.30pm, before which we managed to get to Odaiba - Odaiba is a massive development, which was meant to be double its size, but got burst by the blowing up of the japanese economic bubble in the late 90s. It is actually completely made up of land reclaimed from the Tokyo bay, and to get there, you take this futuristic driverless (G drove ours) monorail around a massive loop which turns into a bridge to the male-made island. On the island, you see monolithic buildings which are architecturally challenging! Anyway, I left K and G on the monorail and made my way back to Waseda high school, which prob took me about an hour and a half including all changes of subway/train. The principal gave me a tour of the school and it looks quite positive in terms of exchanges...

Afterwards, I met K, G and our friend Kiyo in Asakusa, where we eventually had okonomiyaki... cooked in front of us - delicious! G had managed to find for himself a model of King Ghiddra from the japanese Godzilla - which he assured me was much cheaper here than in Australia... It was also fantastic for G when he joined us in rush hour (at 8pm!!) on the trains back through Shibuya to T and Cs where we are staying right now. He was able to use his three headed dragon to bite and kick people who jammed up to close to him... I don't think Melburnians actually know the extent to which you can take the concept of sardines on public transport!!

Ueno, tabako and cheaper Tokyo

G and I made it to Tokyo last night - our flight was delayed by 3 hours, but we only got in about 1 and a half hours late, which was good. G did fantastically, considering that 9pm here was actually 10pm at home. We jumped on the Keisei Skyliner, which took us about an hour to get to Ueno station, but was quite a scenic route, at the height of a lot of the apartment buildings, which G was noticing stretch on and on along the landscape here. We had to change to the subway to get close to our hotel, which we are happy with - we are actually located right between Akihabara, Asakusa and Ueno Park, which are three major tourist areas in Japan - I would reccomend this place if anyone else is coming to Tokyo. It is a brilliant location - unfortunately just one night for us, but we:re going to a friend:s place for the next three nights, which will certainly save money! Still, this place was 7500 yen for the night for both of us, which is about $75 Aussie dollars - who says Tokyo is expensive??! We had sandwiches for breakfast, because the hotel doesn`t do breakfast and our first Japanese meal will have to be lunch. This morning we took a walk to Ueno Park, which I last visited with K, L and Jono.

This park is the equivalent of Woolloomooloo I think in Sydney. We did stop to talk to a couple of the guys living there and they enjoyed talking. They had a couple of kittens and were sitting next to the big lake, which is full of green weeds and giant Koi (Carp). We saw lots of shrines and two temples. Photos now here!

Podcast

Here is our first podcast re the Japan/Europe trip. Enjoy!!

日本とヨーロッパのポッドキャストです。フランスも可能性だし、オランダ、イギリスを楽しみ。イチゴ大福、ディスニーも大人気。楽しみましょうね！　
Eurojapan pod1.mp3

Mapping our itinerary (G&G)

Living in Exile

May 1952 Opa and Oma travelled from the Netherlands to Australia not knowing that they wouldn't return. Well a couple of quick trips 'home' don't really count. L and K are excited to be travelling 'back' to their birthplace to spend some time with R-V family.

Some places we are also hoping to visit are:

the Rijksmuseum, Annefrankhuis, Delft, Leiden, Voorburg, Den Haag...

K is obsessed with decorative vegetable gardens and is dreaming of visiting Castle Villandry in France. L is interested in Oxford and some other Harry Potter inspired places in the four days in England.

A friend and I (K) were talking recently about how language forms so much of our identity. I know that in speaking Japanese there are things I can say more powerfully than in English. Occasionally I am stuck for words in English because there is a better idiom or phrase capturing how I feel in Japanese. Dad spoke Dutch to his parents all their lives - I wonder how much I didn't know them because of the loss in translation! I am looking forward to learning a little more of them in the journey.

This week I have been reading the story of Daniel and what it was like to be a person whose identity was constantly challenged in an exilic setting. Nebuchadnezzar tried to seduce Daniel to assimilate and to forget home with fine wine and a royal diet. But Daniel still knew who he was. I don't think Oma and Opa experienced royal life in Australia, in fact I think Oma in particular lived in culture shock for much of her life, but they did maintain a strong sense of Dutch identity with their food, living arrangements (yes, persian rugs on every table) and language.

Our trip 2008

This is the first post for japaneurope!! K and L have booked flights for going to England and Holland. They are very excited and are doing lots of planning for the big trip. They'll be leaving on the 1st of July and staying overseas for 3 weeks. At this stage, K and L will land in London initially, where they plan to visit the M'ton's in the north for a few days, followed perhaps by a weekend in London. After this, they will make their way to the Netherlands, to stay with family there.






Gw has booked to go to Japan on the 30th June, and will return on the 20th July and he'll take Ge with him as well. If they go, Ge would like to see the hospital he was born in. We are hugely excited about this trip, although we do just wish that we could do both altogether! This is going to be our virtual trip to Europe and Japan together - if you'd like to follow us along on this trip, then check up this blog from time to time, especially at the time. As this is partially business, Gw will visit some schools whilst he is in Japan, one of which should be Waseda Uni High School in Tokyo. He would also like to visit Nagasaki to do some research for his study this year. The other exciting thing is that Ki is also going to Japan at the same time. We will meet up with her, although she initially flies in to Osaka, thanks to Jetstar! We may also visit that American 'culture', Disney...

Golden orb takes up residence

Our new pet is a giant arachnid, which has taken up residence out the back, growing and providing much entertainment for us, as we wonder whether it is the compost heap, closeby which is providing the food.  Actually, there are two, a female and a male, but the male is much smaller.  As far as our identifying skills go, it is a 'Golden Orb', of which the female are one of the larger of spider types, whilst the male is a hardly visible tiny specimen.  

They are not called golden orbs because of their own skin, but because of the tough webs they spin. Can you make them out in the photo? The silk of a golden orb spider is somewhat prized - one visitor told me, as we showed off our new pet.  Apparently it was hoped at one stage that the silk of a golden orb could be used to make clothing.  Another friend told me that it was so tough it has been used in experiments in making bullet proof armour!  

Also, apparently these orbs are from Queensland, so it is a migrant to our state and perhaps the warm weather have encouraged it so far.

Whatever the case, we are enjoying watching the growth of the spider, its web and nature at work - even in terms of a predator.  The kids too are fascinated, especially by the strength of the web, which you can twang like a guitar without any sound effects.  Who was it who said that without the predator, there is no balance in nature?  

Anyway, this 'little' predator has made our little courtyard its new home, giving us something more than just the greenery to look for through the window in the mornings.    

Caught between two worlds

Last week we were in the blue mountains and decided to take on one of the 'difficult' walks, called the 'national pass', which started in the 'valley of the waters' and went along a path between two cliffs to the mid-point of the Wentworth Falls. L and G were suitably excited about going on a difficult walk, and with some misgivings we set off, starting at a waterfall where we had seen abseilers the previous day, coming down the fall with or without helmets and jumping the last 10 metres into the pool at the bottom.

It turned out to be a magic walk, water frequently angled over us from the cliffs above, and when we made it to Wentworth falls, the reward for L and myself was a pounding under another set of falls. Climbing up again was via a zigzag extreme path up the cliff itself, where we saw lizards and black cockatoos. As we neared the finish of the climb, there were suddenly hosts of people, who had walked down from the carpark, to get to the first lookout. The tourist on a mobile phone was a bit jarring at the lookout, but we were able to look straight down to where we had been in the water. The kids kept saying, 'Difficult is easier than easy!'.

Mr Pineapple Head

Fabulous Fruit Fantasy:

Well, thats what I wanted to call the party we held recently for our 10 yr old, but it was vetoed. In the end we had 'Fruit fun', which hasn't such a ring to it, has it? Whatever the case, Melbourne in early summer is perfect for fruit-themed parties, we soon discovered. Probably having a chocolate fountain at our place was a touch of finesse, although the child who discovered braces were good not just for your teeth, but helpful for gathering chocolate probably violated a few health regulations!

If you can get to the Victoria Market, you can do this kind of party in style...
and we managed. After a fruity fashion parade, we walked the girls dressed as little fruit down to the park, reminding them not to get squashed on the road. Our games included: Watermelon relay (around the lake in the park); Apple bowls, Watermelon smash, orange relay (You know that one where you pass on the orange without using your hands), Banana Karaoke (a favourite) and 'Fruity Tongue Twisters'. I'm just not sure whether wearing the pineapple on my head was such a good idea...

A Japanese Story

One memory of the trip this year was going in to this quintessential 'onsen' (hot springs) in Hakone. Hakone was a rainy day, so it was a good day to go to jump into some warm water. Most of the guys came with us, although a few took the opportunity to just stop at Odawara, where we had gotten off the bullet train from Tokyo. Anyway, all was going rosily - a few of the guys were a bit embarrassed about getting down to their birthday suits for the baths (they had been warned) - actually very rosily, if you didn't realise which bath was the scalding one! You could climb up some stairs to get to the top baths. Eventually, I thought I'd take the chance to get upstairs and just enjoy the scenery from the top floor of the beautiful traditional Japanese building, built on the side of a green mountain.

It dawned on me at this point that there was no pile of towels provided, as I had been advised at the Tokyo Ryokan that morning... no I had no towel, and what was worse - I had no towel for the 13 young guys! Luckily, I had bought a small towel to carry into the baths, and had a spare one which I could use for myself. Panicking, I raced out looking for a place where I might be able to hire a towel. Eventually, I found a vending machine... would you believe it - yes, in Japan every kind of vending machine is around most street corners. All I had to do, was get change from the front desk, and spend about 10 minutes, buying 200 yen ($2) small towels out of the vending machine. Going back into the baths, the guys were waiting and looked somewhat relieved!

From sweaty Shibuya to chilly Anglesea

I'm housesitting in Anglesea, watching a red parrot in the backyard and enjoying reading in front of the fire. Japan was a blast as we had always expected, with eighteen teenagers along for the ride. They were fantastic actually and you can read more details of our time in Japan at our blog of the trip, here. I missed my family though, it was fun catching up and continuing to catch up as we unwind down the coast. At last it is raining in Australia, and goodness knows, we need it! I'm just wondering whether to get out the wetsuit and take on the winter waves... if the sun would just come out, I might actually do so!

Here is a photo from Akihabara!

Running

My daughter (and son) have been running lately - its got me thinking, I should be running again too. When I was younger, I ran most days, addicted to the adrenaline. What is it, about something which can be tough, especially when you haven't done it for a while, that makes it actually exhilirating? For one thing, its not tied to an indoor setting, like inside a gym. Yesterday morning, when we went for a run, it was about 7am, but the moon was still up in the sky. Running reminds me of my humanity, seeing trees, the river, even other people. Breathing cool air and embracing the earth. Yes, I think there is something mysteriously good about it. Running.

Approaching a bend in the road...

Well, I'm off to Japan in two weeks, its my 5th trip there, but this one looks like being the most frenetic! Quite apart from the fact that I am taking 18 young adults, our schedule takes us from Tokyo to Hakone, to Hiroshima to Kyoto, Kobe, Himeji and then to Tokyo again, a whirlwind visit, touring sights and meeting people.

I'm looking forward to meeting people the most... in Tokyo, some friends have agreed to show us Harajuku and Asakusa areas. Amazingly, my cousin and her family may be able to meet me in Disneyland and then we're going on a school visit in Kobe, to Rokko Gakuin.

I'll be trying to post to the blog indicated above, and perhaps assisted by some of the students on the tour. That depends of course on having enough time away from touring, organising and taking time out!

My family has been making origami cranes, which I am wondering whether I should take with me to Hiroshima.

Surprising Shinto Texts

Well, I'm shortly back off to Japan, for a school trip with students from the place where I teach. I was interested recently to discover some Shinto texts, which were from a different perspective than I expected. Not that I have actually read a lot of Shinto writings. See if they surprise you!

Ise Teijo, who lived from 1715-1784, said, ‘Never make an image to represent the Deity… an image made by mortal hands is of no use in Shinto Worship.’[1]

Another text:

'If one ceremoniously invited me to his abode by hanging up sacred straw ropes for thousands of days, yet would I not cross his threshold were he dishonest, harsh or greedy.'[2]

A third text, written by Shima-shigeoyu, Shinto priest of Izumo Shrine in the Tokugawa period goes as follows:
'Deem not that only in this earthly shrine the Deity doth reign; The Earth entire and all the Heavens divine, His presence do proclaim.'[3]

These passages resonate with me, as a follower of Christ, as fitting with biblical principles.

Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise that religious groups around the world have developed many similar principles to each other. I wonder whether this could also contribute to dialogue between Shinto and Christian groups.

[1] Genchi Kato, A Study of Shinto: The Religion of the Japanese Nation, (London: Curzon Press, 2nd Edition, 1971), 185.
[2] Attributed to the Oracle of the Deity of Kasuga (Perhaps written by Shinto priest Urabe-no-kanetomo), in Kato, A Study of Shinto,(1971), 179-80.
[3] Kato, A Study of Shinto,(1971), 187.

An enjoyable ramble

For Anzac Day, avoiding the rush at the Shrine, we took a peaceful ramble from the Collingwood Children's Farm across to Dight's falls. It was a beautiful walk, not at all spoilt by the number of bikes out, even if they mostly forgot to use their bells!

The kids fed the horses and donkeys at the farm and we finished up by going down to the Convent, where we found "Lentil as Anything", an impressive veggo cafe. At "Lentil as Anything", there is no cashier, nothing but a box, to drop your cash in at the end. You "Pay as you like", according to what you think the food is worth. We ate Udon, which was obviously Japanese cuisine influenced and a "curry platter", great food and good coffee - much impressed.

Learning geography from Asterix

Amongst the householders at our place, this set of French cartoons has become a popular one recently, and the whole set has been gradually picked up from the library and read voraciously. Actually, Asterix seems like quite a good geography lesson, (if mainly restricted to Europe) doesn't it, and the puns are good for the average adult. I actually fell to reading Asterix in Japanese, when I lived in Japan, which was quite enjoyable, especially when you remember them as well as I do. The official website is worth a look, if you're into this crew.

And, here's the English version of the latest typically hollywoody music for the most recent Asterix movie:

Foetal position

As I lead a Catholic retreat this week, I am reminded of the way I get caught up in activity. Frenetic activity consumes me until I am uncomfortably numb, as opposed to the Pink Floyd song. This picture, my partner's, sums it up well. The bright lights, (have you ever been to the casino?), attract us - at least at first. Eventually we succumb and assume the position we held in the womb.

Year 12 students, who I will take on retreat, need to avoid this reaction to the violence of the push for results and the pressures of the year. How they can avoid this is perhaps by following some Leunig strategies.

For there are some who desire to know only for the sake of knowing; and this is disgraceful curiosity.
And there are some who desire to know, that they may become known themselves; and this is disgraceful vanity....
And there are also some who desire to know in order to sell their knowledge, as for money, or for degrees; and this is disgraceful commercialism.
But there are also some who desire to know in order to edify; and this is love.

- Bernard, Abott of Clairvaux 12th C

Passing the buck

I wouldn't say that my move from a public educational institution into a private one was a shock - it was rather the opposite, a change that is easy to get used to. After around 8 years in a a public institution, I can see the difference and it is one I feel quite ambivalent about. In the end, students are students, some have good study habits, some not and there are no guarantees, even if their parents are paying an arm and a leg.

My ambivalence is due to the apparent ease with which the government(s) pass the buck on the poor resourcing and support offered to teachers in the tough schools, where there are none of the perks, or even just the support of the time needed to do a really good job. In the end, too, part of the reason I am really comfortable with the change is related to the fact that the new place, is just around the corner from me.

I guess I have to be careful in the place where I am that I too, am not throwing around the money, or even trashing it, but that I have a greater responsibility, where I have responsibility for more, to use it wisely and with compassion for the growth of others. What a challenge this is...

Being a pasta's husband

Yes, my daughter said, "Mum, you'll be the pasta and I'll be the fettucini!", when my other half got a job recently at a melbourne church. Its always interesting being the husband, where the role of the pastor's wife in many a church has been pretty narrow... But I'm pretty lucky really, since people don't really seem to know what to expect of the pastor's husband. One thing is for sure, if people think things are hunky dory and all easy in these days post women's lib for a woman in leadership, it ain't necessarily so, in church circles! But ah well, things are a changing and there are a lot of positives too...