Anna`s UNDOU-KAI

A boy waves the flag for the red team (Anna`s Team), as a girl drums the taikodrum behind him as the runners race around the track at Field Day UNDOU-KAI

A few weeks ago Anna had her first Field Day (UNDOU-KAI) on Saturday.  It is a custom for Elementary schools to hold these events on the weekends so that parents, grandparents and friends can watch the students participate in a variety of competitive games such as tug of war, relay races, dashes, hurdles, ball tossing, and many more.  They even have special dances performed by entire grades.

Anna in her dash was put against the faster runners in her grade and she came out in 1st place.  She also was chosen to run in the relay race but her team finished in 3rd. It was great to see her compete and do her best.  That morning she woke up with great excitement and determination.  It was like she had prepared, worked hard and knew she was going to win.  And just for the record, I am not the type of parent to pump up and train my kids to be super over-achievers.  This was all her! I just told her to go run and have fun today and "You`ll do great Anna!" As you look at the pictures you may wonder why Anna is wearing a mask.  She lost her two front teeth and decided that she should wear it. Here are a few photo highlights from the day.

Anna is wearing the mask and has her hands out in victory after finishing first place in the dash.

The school grounds were filled with about 3,000 people and everybody had their cameras out and the weather was quite warm as well.  It will certainly live on to be a great memory for us and Anna.  She was beaming after she came home that day knowing how well she had done and enjoyed such a time with her classmates and friends.

The children compete by tossing colored balls into a hoop and the team with the most balls wins.  TAMA-IRE

Anna during the Disney Dance.  She loved practicing for this and still does it all the time.

Amidst all the hardship and trials she has been through it brought a little tear to my eye to see her so satisfied and happy...

Down on the Farm

A cow from Chiba`s famous Mother Farm located in Futsu.

During the end of Golden Week (a week of Japanese holidays at the end of April beginning of May ) we took a trip down south to the Mother Bokujou (farm). The weather was very nice but quite windy. The area is very rural and is on top of a mountain near the end of the Chiba peninsula. The fun part for the kids was being able to touch and handle the animals. They got a chance to milk the cow and hold the bunnies and watch the pig race. But they seemed to enjoy running around and playing in the grass just as much. With everything going on it felt good to go out to the country for awhile and let the kids run free.

With all that is happening we are concerned for the children most of all.  However, giving them a chance to be kids and enjoy the life they are living is still very important.  We don`t want to live in a bubble but we also don`t want to take unneeded risk when it comes to their health.  We are still trying to figure out what the next steps are in adjusting our lifestyle to keep them safe.  It was fun to see them enjoy the country life even if it was just for a day.

Below are some video clips from the day.

My Daughters are Not Wall Flowers

I came across this photo in my photostream on my Flickr account and it got me thinking about my children.  It was titled "Wall Flower" and I thought about the concept of a wallflower.  Still beauty or shy beauty certainly does not aptly describe my children.  They are constantly in motion bumping into things, running around, singing, jumping, playing doing about anything they can to get the attention they crave.

When it comes to the world outside,
they are not shy,
they are not well-behaved,
but they are to me, beautifully made.

I am surprised how easily they make friends and how their energy seems to be contagious to the other kids around them.  Some kids give energy and some require it to engage in play time.  My daughters are the stimulators, the first ones to go for the gusto, how they exhaust me and their mother.

Yet when I take a step back, I am amazed at the beauty of it all.  They are untainted and delicate, waking each morning to the world as pure children, unique in their ways. 

I only hope that as they develop that they learn to speak not only Japanese and English, but also that they learn to speak with wisdom and understanding.  I want them to understand the value of words and power of words. 

Eyes of those around them are watching them and when their time comes.  I hope they can share themselves in a way that is a blessing to those around them.

They might grow tired and sit down for a break, but they are far from your typical "Wall Flower".

Dinner in the Dark at McDonalds

 

As a result of the earthquake in Japan and the continued problems with restoring power, most places have significantly reduced their use of electricity.  Here is an example.  We went to McDonald`s tonight for dinner and the lights were out.  We thought it was closed but as we entered we saw people sitting in the dark and eating.  There was light by the register of course since they need power to run the register and cooking side of things.

It was a very interesting experience and a reminder of the situation we live in.  Conserving electricity is a major priority in Japan and it shows how willing people and businesses are to sacrifice convenience for the sake of others.

The video is dark and disorienting.  I took it for me so I can remember this time one day and for you readers so you can experience a little of what it is like in Japan for us.

Things are back to normal in a way, but still there is uncertainty lurking.  There are signs of the times that can either terrify you or make you thankful to be alive and well.