Sydney's Officially a Gymnast


Sydney recently started gymnastics--well a "free play" gymnastics class, that is. The "structured" class was a little too daunting since our independent (stubborn) girl doesn't like to follow class directions just yet.

For example, she only does a somersault after 6:30pm--and on the couch--not when instructed to do so on a floor mat. And she would only hang on this bar after I told her she'd look like a monkey. (She loves her animals!)

Despite these obstacles, Brian thinks she will be a natural, given her size. So, we found a better fit in this free-for-all toddler class. You can see she is thoroughly enjoying herself. I'm surprised the camera didn't capture a mere blur across the screen!

SUMO

Sumo is the national sport of Japan. So, this weekend we went to our first sumo tournament in Tokyo to experience one more piece of Japanese culture. We went to The Sumo Hall (or Ryōgoku Kokugikan) in Ryōgoku, Tokyo to see one of six grand sumo tournaments of the year. Each tournament begins on a Sunday and runs for 15 days, ending also on a Sunday. There are "East" and "West" divisions and the higher ranking grand champions (yokozuna) compete later in the day.

Sumo is an ancient tradition in Japan. Today there are still ceremonial rituals that are related to when the sport was used in the Shinto religion. The roof over the sumo ring resembles that of a Shinto shrine. On mounting the dohyo (wrestling ring), the wrestler faces the audience, claps his hands and then performs the leg-stomping shiko exercise to drive evil spirits from the ring as the referee announces the wrestlers' names once more. Stepping out of the ring into their corners, each wrestler is given a ladleful of water, the chikara-mizu ("power water"), with which he rinses out his mouth and a paper tissue, the chikara-gami ("power paper"), to dry his lips. Then both step back into the ring, squat facing each other, clap their hands, then spread them wide to show they have no weapons. Returning to their corners, they each pick up a handful of salt which they toss onto the ring to purify it.

The two sumo wrestlers (rikishi) reenter the ring and squat facing each other until they silently agree to charge at each other and begin the bout. Each bout usually lasts only a few seconds and there are two main ways to lose a bout. The first person to be pushed out of the ring, or who touches the ground with any body part other than the soles of the feet loses.

We thought Sydney was making great strides towards her sumo career; she already has the "squat" down and wears diapers. But there are no weight divisions in sumo, so an individual wrestler can sometimes face an opponent twice his own weight. Hardly seems fair. In Sydney's case, it'd be more like 15 times her weight!

Enjoy these photos from our sumo experience...

Our Weather Correspondent Mitch:
Into the "Eye" of Typhoon Fitow











Last week, Typhoon Fitow blew directly into our town as a category 2 storm, as predicted. So, Brian sent Mitch out into the storm to gather blog "B-roll" footage.

Click here to see a video of Mitch, reporting live, from the sea wall in our neighborhood of Mabori Kaigan.

Okay, so it wasn't exactly the eye of the storm. And Mitch isn't much of a news correspondent, since verbal communication with him is largely and generally one-sided. But if Mitch could talk, the narrative of his video would probably be something you've heard before with every other storm report. He'd probably be reciting--with extreme enthusiasm (note the wagging tail)--the same somewhat stupid monologue all weather correspondents end up saying as they're thrust into the most dangerous part of the storm.

"It's raining, it's pouring, it's really windy. It's really getting bad out here. Whoa! Look at the size of that wave! Stay home people. But let me just step into the flood waters to show you how deep they are..."

The storm continued long after Mitch returned home, all through the night actually. Luckily, we didn't have any damage to our house, although our neighbor reports this is the worst storm in the 30 years he's lived here. Although 20 years ago, he tells us our neighborhood did have some flooding. But that enabled him to step out of his front door, reach down into the 1 foot of water, and effortlessly grab a 2-foot-long fish to fry up for dinner, so in retrospect, he only laughs about that storm.

Seto Pottery Shopping Trip

This past weekend I took a base-sponsored trip to Seto City (Aichi Prefecture), which is known for its Japanese pottery and ceramics. In September, along the river in Seto there is an annual open-air street sale with hundreds of vendors selling all kinds of pottery. Needless to say, mostly women boarded our bus at 3:45 am to be chauffeured to Seto for 5 1/2 hours of shopping.

Did I mention Seto is five hours away by bus? Being 31 weeks pregnant, I was initially concerned about being on a bus for 10 hours without a bathroom, but signed up for the trip once I was assured that the bus would make 2 pit stops each way. After boarding the bus, I was pleasantly surprised to find out there was indeed a bathroom on the bus. And although I only needed it once, I only allowed myself to doze off for half an hour; someone had to keep a vigil to tally flushes since the toilet would be inoperable after just 50 flushes. (Whatever happened to 2,000 flushes?)

It turns out I didn't need more than my fair one flush because it was hotter than Haiti on this trip and I was sweating away any fluids I consumed. Even armed with a hat and my suitcase on wheels to minimize exertion, I was a little afraid I might literally shop till I dropped.

But I trudged onward to make my purchases: a vase, two eclectic bowls, two matching large tea cups, a set of four adorable flower cups with saucers, and a hanging wall vase. And one or two gifts, which I won't detail. I mostly filled my suitcase with two hours to spare. And by then I had lost steam anyway (although it was still plenty steamy). I continued to browse, but everything started to look the same and I had difficultly making decisions.

Throughout the day, I tried to anticipate my usual buyer's remorse, which contrary to most people's experiences, usually involves getting home and realizing I have remorse about not buying enough. An impulse shopper, I am not. But when I got home and realized I'd forgotten that a quarter of my suitcase housed my friend's vase (since she helped me bargain), I was a little disappointed that I had not bought more. But not enough to return again in a year. At least, I don't think. But then again, I reserve the right to change my mind because maybe it will be like having a second child...eventually you forget how painful the first time was and do it all over again.

Sarushima Island (Monkey Island)

Sydney and I recently ventured to this little island off the coast of Yokosuka. We see it in the distance every day, whether we're on the Navy base or near the sea wall in our neighborhood. So, to beat the heat, we finally geared up for some beach time and set out on the 10-minute, 1200-yen ferry ride to the island with several of our playgroup friends.

Sarushima Island is Tokyo Bay's only natural island. Due to its strategic location at the mouth of Tokyo Bay, it was used as a fort at three different times in history: during the mid-19th century under the Tokugawa Shogunate, during the late 19th century shortly after the Meiji Restoration, and again during the 1930's. There are a few traces of fortifications visible today, including brick tunnels built during the Meiji period.

But alas, it was way too hot to stray from the cool, clear water at the beach!