Japanese Culture Day

The Yokosuka International Association hosted a Japanese Culture Day last weekend. It was an entirely free event, with the exception of the kimono dressing and the ikebana (flower arranging), which were 500 yen each.

 Japanese tea ceremony (we didn't have the greatest view--the lady with her back to us is preparing the tea).

 After the tea ceremony, we were all invited to try making the green tea ourselves. The tea at a Japanese tea ceremony is powdered green tea, called Matcha. You use a tiny bamboo stick to scoop out some green tea powder and place it in the bottom of the tea bowl. You then add hot water, using the bamboo ladle that's perched on top of the tea kettle in this photo. You must then use a bamboo whisk to vigorously whisk the tea until it is foamy.

 Chickadee dressed in a kimono (they even styled your hair for you). She enjoyed it immensely. 

 Calligraphy. You could choose either character. Chickadee made the left one (north/kita), and Millinophile made the right one (south/minami). The red stamp indicated that it is official calligraphy. 

 There was also an origami table. Chickadee chose to make this rose (hers is the top one and the other one is the instructor's).

 Millinophile made this adorable cat.

Some other origami you could choose to make.

Pascha in Yokohama

We've been going to a lovely parish in Yokohama (here). The priest, matushka, and several of the parishioners speak good English, and everyone is very friendly. Two other families from the Naval Base also attend.

The church's exterior. Our service started at 9 a.m., hence the sunlight.

ハリストス復活! (Harisutosu fukkatsu!) 実に復活! (Jitsu ni fukkatsu!)

 So many kulichi!

A pretty Pascha basket.

 Handing out the red eggs.

 Well, mostly red eggs. Millinophile's has a Russian folk tale instead. After the service finished, the parish had a celebratory meal with tons of traditional Japanese food (sushi, yakitori, steamed edamame, seaweed rice crackers, spaghetti salad, and other dishes). It was lots of fun!

Millinophile: This iced tea tastes really bitter.

Chickadee: Yeah, it really does. Actually, it tastes almost like...coffee! It's iced cafe americano.

 We saw some pretty flowers on the walk from church to the train station. 

 People around here have really nice gardens around their homes instead of lawns.

It's hard to see, but the white tulips have pink stripes.

Wait, I thought poppies were illegal in Japan...

All the photos in this post were taken with Millinophile's new phone. It has a 16MP camera. A little better than the 5MP on the 7 year old camera we've been using.

Cell Phones (and other tech)

We finally got cellphones! After researching plans online, we decided we wanted to get plans from SoftBank, one of the largest cell carriers in Japan. There's a SoftBank in the NEX on base, so we went there to get phones.  Unfortunately, the lady we spoke to (who also appeared to be in charge) was both rude and unhelpful. Millinophile wanted last year's model of the Aquos (the Xx 302SH--it's the only SoftBank smartphone that's basically free with a new contract), but the onbase lady (without even looking it up) declared that since it was last year's model there was no way we would be able to get it, and no, she couldn't order it for us. We found this assertion doubtful, since it was still in stock online. So, we decided to walk to the SoftBank out in town to see if they could help us. 

They could! The woman we spoke to at the SoftBank in the Mikasa Mall, just off base on Blue St., was extremely polite, helpful, and meticulous. She made sure we were getting the best deal on everything, and that we knew all of the fees associated with each phone and plan. When Millinophile told her he wanted the old model of the Aquos, she said she could order it for us, but it would take a few days to come in. Then, when she was actually inputting our order, the computer said the phone was out of stock. While the woman was collecting other phones to show Millinophile, she happened to grab a box that was...the 302! Turns out, it was only out of stock in the color Millinophile wanted. They had it in black & pink in their back room. Chickadee's phone (the red one) is just a basic flip phone with talk and text. It's a Color Life 301P. 

We also decided to purchase a mobile hotspot to use for our home internet. We found out today that the only internet onbase is really slow, really expensive cable. The hotspot will give us internet that's 10x faster for half the cost (including the cost of the device). The only catch is that we're limited to 6GB at that speed before it's throttled.

On an unrelated note, the offbase SoftBank had a cool tea machine. You could choose from a variety of teas, coffee, water, and apple juice (though Millinophile said it tasted more like apple water).  Additionally, you could select whether you wanted your beverage to be hot or cold.

This is also unrelated, but Japanese companies frequently hire people to hand out these tissue packets on the street and in malls to advertise their services.  These are from SoftBank,whose mascot is a white Shiba Inu named Otosan/Father. Pepper is the robot, apparently.

Green Tea

 Sencha is the most common type of green tea here in Japan. 

 

It's really green.