Kimono shopping

Here's the kimono picture! The first one, anyway; this is a try-on at the street market. We shopped last night at an open-air market in Nagoya called Osu. I can tell you that the Japanese dress a little bit more wild on Saturdays than they do for work the rest of the week. Plus, this place has a reputation for being a little crazy. It has festivals with dancing, music, street food and general community gathering at least once a month.

Church is getting better each week. We have Primary and Relief Society/ Preisthood first, then Sunday School, and last Sacrament meeting, from 10am-1pm. The older girls have an adult interpreting for them in their individual primary classes, and so they just have to get through Sharing Time in Japanese. The primary will even sing a few songs in English just for them. Colleen and Bridget have at least two of their classmates that speak English, so they're making friends and doing well. Bridget's teacher takes the time to write her supplements in both languages, which is just one example of how accommodating the Japanese are. Ashlynn has nursery leaders talking to her in Japanese the whole two hours, which she usually requires a couple of breaks from. Meetings for us are going well; I've been able to make a few comments in Relief Society with the help of a translator (usually missionaries). We have had combined R.S./Priesthood meetings with visiting leaders from the stake or area authorities, who of course give great lessons. I was worried that we wouldn't get enough out of our meetings to be spiritually fed like we're used to, but so far we have been very blessed. Today was fast and testimony meeting and the little kids ALL got up and said the same thing, "I know that God lives. And I say these things in the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen." It was quite an experience. The adults gave wonderful testimonies with faith-promoting stories; visiting the temple, being closer to their less active children, the men trying to get home earlier from work. All are saints who are trying to live the commandments the best they can. They even cry at the pulpit like we emotional Americans do.

Ward Choir is a hoot. I had Megumi (my interpreter friend) write down the syllables I'm supposed to be singing next to the kanji on the copy of the hymns we're singing in Stake Conference in a few weeks. Our choir director is a professional, and not your standard Japanese. He's an artist with huge expression and long hair. Megumi says her friends call him Beethoven. She said that he got so into directing when the general authorities came to visit that his glasses fell off during the song. It's amazing how choir directors are the same, no matter where you are in the world.

A couple of things happened to me this week that really made me feel welcomed by the Japanese: first was, Bridget dropped my new I-phone and the screen died, and I only had it a week. I was worried that I would have to pay to replace it (which would have been just) and I told the phone store honestly what happened, and they said they weren't sure. They sent me to the Apple store, and the man was so friendly, that he met me at the door, and said, "I think this is an LCD problem. The warranty will cover this." I patted his arm and told him he was my new best friend. I'll have to be more careful with this one.

The second almost-misunderstanding happened when I tried to order a hamburger for Ashlynn with no toppings on it, and I guess the restaurant thought I wanted a discount for that, or something, so they came back and said that I would have to get the "standard" version of the avocado burger. I was a little frustrated, but just said, fine, I'll take the stuff off myself. I went upstairs while I was waiting to the 300 Yen store, and when I came back they had drawn me a little picture on the back of a receipt. I'm hoping to scan and post it so you all get the full effect, but it said, "We made one burger like this (showing all the toppings) and one with meet only (drawing of a plain burger) and we will give you back 80 Yen". It was so sweet of them to keep trying even though they weren't sure what to do. The Japanese are often torn between keeping the letter of the law and making people happy, especially Gaijin (pronounced "guy-gene", their word for foreigners) like us.

Well, I probably blabbed too long again. I'm still getting used to this blog thing, so forgive while it still sounds more like an e-mail. I loved all who commented last time, so don't be shy! Tell me what I could do better, or what I'm forgetting. I'll try to post more pictures, and of course when the girls wear their new kimonos for a special occasion with their hair done and everything I'll take more. I'll have to write about Scott & my anniversary dinner sometime soon; it was quite an experience! Let's just say our abalone dinner almost got up and walked away from the table when the tenpanyaki chef sprinkled salt on it! Write more soon!