Sapporo LDS Temple

We traveled to Sapporo Japan for the open house of the new LDS temple there.  We took a train from Misawa to Hachinohe, the Shinkansen (bullet) train to Hakodate, and then a third train to Sapporo.  We did not understand the ticketing at all and just showed our tickets each time to the attendants.  Thank goodness we could at least gesture at each other. Our hotel in Sapporo, Hotel Clubby, was classy. We had four twin beds and they provided pj's, slippers, and a buffet breakfast. Across the street was a huge mall, Sapporo Factory. It had tons of places to eat and I was relieved that Pants finally tried ramen noodles and shrimp tempura. Maybe she will not starve here after all!

Train travelers

Hotel Clubby, Sapporo

Look at us trying new foods on the train!  My kids have amazed me with their adventurous eating.

My thoughts have been drawn to my dad a lot these last few weeks, especially as we are here in Sapporo for the LDS temple open house. He served his mission in this area of Japan from 1972-1974.  At the time his mission was called Japan East. He had Thanksgiving dinner at Misawa AFB, served in Hakadate, Tomakomai, and Sapporo, cities that I traveled through to get to Sapporo.

My dad had a love for life

Elder Mark Kartchner (sunglasses) with companion "Spud"

So many times since I have arrived here I have wished for his presence. I have wished that I could ask him my millions of questions about the culture and language, and that I could feel his excitement about the places I will see and visit. He would have been thrilled that there is now a temple in Sapporo because he served and taught these beautiful people. He would have probably attended the open house with us.  I want so badly to know that he is with us in this adventure and sometimes I am sad that I came here 40 years after him when he has already left us behind. I need the wisdom that he would have shared with me.  As I watched the Japanese people at the temple, I wondered if any of them knew my father and were taught by him. I pray that I may come to know some of them, somehow, in my three years here.  I am grateful that my mother and father were sealed for eternity in the Salt Lake Temple so that my family is connected on this earth and in the eternities after.  My father is waiting for us there and we will be able to share this experience someday.

Sapporo LDS Temple

Beautiful Japanese gardens around the temple

Our Eternal Family

Exploring the Sapporo Maruyuma Zoo

We stumbled onto a Shinto shrine just outside the zoo on a nature path.  The trees were so thick and tall that it was dark inside.  

Cultural Insights About Japan

I am trying to learn some things about this fascinating country that we find ourselves in.  Here are some differences that I have noted:

1. Bear is taking cello lessons from Inoue Sensei off base. We have learned to take off our shoes as we enter the building and how to greet him in Japanese. I really like the formal greetings and closings of meetings as well as the bowing. There is ceremony to these procedures and I enjoy the respect they instill.

2. There is a procedure at the Japanese market. We pay for our items in yen and we place the yen in a dish. We do not hand it to the cashier. Then we take our items to the side to bag them ourselves. The Japanese packages for food are smaller than we are used to and the shopping carts are small. Some days the markets will offer eggs for 100 yen (approximately 1 dollar) and you can take one carton per person. So all the ladies bring all their kids so they can stock up on eggs. I discovered this when I took four cartons but I only had two kids with me. The cashier politely took one away with a bow. I smiled back because I could not ask why I was not getting my eggs. I had to ask my friends later to find out why.

3. I love the Japanese toilets complete with seat warming and bidets.  They scare Pants but I think they are wonderful.

4. When we went to Sapporo, I was very impressed with the Japanese cab drivers.  The ones I saw were older gentlemen and they all dressed in white collared shirts and ties. I thought they looked very professional.

5. The Japanese workers are very efficient. We received our household goods last week and had a Japanese crew of five. They arrived on time and did not mess around.  They brought in all the furniture first so it could be placed. They assembled Bub's bed, the TV stand, and the couch. Then they brought in all the boxes, assembly line style. It was so fast. We asked them to unload the upstairs (bedrooms and bathrooms) and kitchens. There is a strict recycling process in Japan and if the movers unpack the boxes, they will break them down and haul them out.  This was completely overwhelming at first as we were left with piles of items on our bedroom floors, dishes on every counter top surface, and even piled in the sink.  The good thing about the mess was that we could see all our stuff at once so we could sort it and put it away. And we were forced to put the things away if we wanted a place to sleep and eat.

Kitchen mess

Bedroom mess

I am enjoying this new to me country. I enjoy that all the kids activities are provided on the base. There is a strong sense of community. I enjoy that I can just send my kids out to play without worrying about sunblock. Here we need our rain boots, umbrellas, and mosquito repellent. There are many things and people that I miss at Nellis but my heart cannot be sad all the time. There is a lot to love in Misawa.

I love how things get translated sometimes.

Yoga in Japanese

We are starting to slowly build a routine here at Misawa.  The kids mostly love to play outside in the big green area behind our house.  They look for kids outside and run to join them. I am glad that kids are so willing to jump right in with each other.  It helps make the transition easier in this military life.  It has been rainy for the last few days.  The weather is very different than Las Vegas and I find myself wishing we could go to the outdoor pool in the heat.  Why do I always miss what I leave behind and do I appreciate things in the moment? I am appreciating the free time the kids have to just play like kids in the trees, the grass, and the green.  The kids are taking lessons this summer which helps to structure our days. Pants has ballet, Bear has ballet and lyrical, and Bub has karate.  They each have various summer camps as well.  I always like to keep busy.

            I taught my first yoga class at the Potter Fitness Center today.  I taught three lovely Japanese women who spoke very little English. Couple this with my very little Japanese and it made for an interesting experience.  Misawa Air Force base holds three US military branches, Air Force, Army, and Navy, and the Japanese Self-Defense Forces.  I was excited to be able to mingle with the Japanese people and learn about their culture.  I have been listening to Japanese for three months and we are taking a Japanese Survival Language class on base. The only thing this has helped me with is recognizing some words/phrases and my pronunciation of common greetings.  I have little confidence in my ability to actually converse.  I did use my greetings with the ladies and was able to count to five in Japanese.  I quickly realized that I would need to learn Right (migi) and Left (hidari) in Japanese.  I found myself demonstrating more of the asanas because I did not know how to communicate the transitions and adjustments. I was hoping that Sanskrit, the yoga language, could help to bridge my gap, but the teacher before me did not use Sanskrit.  So we will all be learning together.  Just when I think I have this teaching down, there is another challenge for me to work through. Arigato and Namaste!

Color Run on the 4th of July at the Base beach, Lake Ogawara

Misawa LDS Military Unit

The kids and I went to church today with Josh.  It is off base in a tiny alley in Misawa.  The building looks like an office building with a steeple.  There is an elevator inside and instead of pews, we have padded folding chairs in the chapel.  We noticed some differences from what we are used to.  The ward is called a unit instead of a ward and the stake, usually a larger geographic area composed of many wards, is the entire of Japan.  All of the English speaking wards are in one stake from bottom to top.  This means that the Stake President travels between units for all matters of business that needs to be conducted.   The most important things were the same though.  I love that all wards or units are conducted the same throughout the world.  We are able to look up our ward or unit on LDS.org, show up at the assigned time, and we know what to expect.  We are looking forward to this unit becoming our family as we are so far away from ours.

New church building in Misawa

Veiw of our backyard green space and common area from our bedroom window

Visit to the Hachinohe shrine where we got to learn about another religion, Shinto.  I want to show my kids other ways to believe and worship God so that they can understand many facets of the culture they are living in.