It was day three with the Aztec crew. Seth and I were extremely excited about this day because we were going to take them to our Japanese Church, which has become our saving grace to living in Japan. On our way to church we stopped by a thick bamboo forest. I could see the twinkle in Louis' eyes as he replayed countless Japanese stories that take place in a place like this. In a similar fashion, Sam's gears were turning as he analyzed the inner workings of bamboo. All of the "boys" had so much fun in there while Mary and I waited patiently for them to finish to climbing around and dissecting the tree to see what they looked like inside.
We did our 30 minute bike ride and arrived for the Christmas service at Agape International Chapel.
One of the blessings of belonging to this church is that we get to see how Japanese Christians celebrate Christmas. In Japan, only 1% of the country's population are Christians, which means that the real reason for this holiday (i.e. Jesus' birth) is a mystery to the other 99% of Japan. The service was quite similar to what we are used to in America, but this was much more interactive. There was choreographed songs as well as Christmas skits. Louis especially enjoyed the energetic atmosphere.
After the service there was a Christmas potluck where everyone from the church got to meet Sam, Mary and Louis. This was fun for everyone, but especially fun for Seth and I to have his family meet all of our new friends. Once we were done with church, everyone needed to finish up on some last minute Christmas shopping at Seth and I's favorite recycle store, Wonder Rex! This store is three stories tall and has EVERYTHING from shoes to furniture to old cameras to musical instruments.
Once we were done, we all headed to Tsukuba Center to catch the TX (Tsukuba Express) bound for Tokyo. On our way we came upon Japan's "luminarias" which were made of reused plastic bottles with decorated paper draped around the exterior. There where hundreds of these luminarias scattered throughout the area. Some where from school children and others from participating families. While Sam, Mary, Louis and I walked around, Seth did a quick dash home on a bike that we borrowed from Matt because we forgot to pack our travel book for this evenings shenanigans.
Seth made it back to the station in record time as we headed to the Asakusa district in Tokyo. We wanted to visit one of the oldest temples in Japan when we were met with a pleasant surprise: a special New Years festival! The temple was lined with countless vendors selling some paddles for RIDICULOUS amounts of yen!
The paddles originated from a game similar to badminton that girls would play on New Years Eve. If a girl missed a shot, she would get ink smeared on her face. The game would continue until one girl's face was completely covered....there are some traditions that I'm glad are dead!
Our next adventure for the night was Tokyo Tower! Seriously, at this point, Tokyo Tower should be paying us for all of the business/publicity we give them. So we got back on the train and headed deeper into Tokyo. On the 1/2 mile walk from the station to the tower our jet lagged visitors began to emanate exhaustion, we needed to hurry up while everyone was in good spirits. Once we got to the top of the tower the beautiful sea of lights of took our guests breath away.
It was a great night with everything going smoothly, but it was time to wrap up our fun night in Tokyo. The last train to Tsukuba left around 11:30 and we were cutting it way too close. On our brisk walk back to the station we passed a McDonald's which had several Santa's hanging out and drinking coffee. Sam couldn't pass up the opportunity to ask them for a photo.
We caught the last train back and we were all so, so, soooo tired. Seth said he knew that it was a long day when he looked at his dad trying to catch some ZZZ's on the train. By 12:30am we made it back to the the Tsukuba Center to jump on our bikes for our mile ride home. Mary and I got on our bikes as Louis started circling around everyone (that kid = endless energy). I looked over to see a very distinct look of frustration on Seth's face. He said "I can't find my bike..." which was actually Matt and Chelsae's bike that we had borrowed.
If you know Seth and I, then you probably are already giggling at this because Seth misplaces stuff ALL OF THE TIME which I usually find within a few seconds. Unfortunately that wasn't the case for this night. Seth's bike, or rather Matt's bike, got stolen! This is a first for us in Japan, it's usually such a trustworthy place. We couldn't believe it and continued to look for about 30 minutes...sadly we never found it. We decided that we would give it another try in the morning so Seth rode my bike and I just jumped on behind him. Yet another hick-up for HEROW-Japan...
~Katie
Louis monkeying around on the bamboo.
The boys employing a 'scientific' approach to observing the bamboo's ribs.
Morning greetings.
One of the blessings of belonging to this church is that we get to see how Japanese Christians celebrate Christmas. In Japan, only 1% of the country's population are Christians, which means that the real reason for this holiday (i.e. Jesus' birth) is a mystery to the other 99% of Japan. The service was quite similar to what we are used to in America, but this was much more interactive. There was choreographed songs as well as Christmas skits. Louis especially enjoyed the energetic atmosphere.
The choir blessing us with the Japanese version of "Silent Night"
Once we were done, we all headed to Tsukuba Center to catch the TX (Tsukuba Express) bound for Tokyo. On our way we came upon Japan's "luminarias" which were made of reused plastic bottles with decorated paper draped around the exterior. There where hundreds of these luminarias scattered throughout the area. Some where from school children and others from participating families. While Sam, Mary, Louis and I walked around, Seth did a quick dash home on a bike that we borrowed from Matt because we forgot to pack our travel book for this evenings shenanigans.
Seth made it back to the station in record time as we headed to the Asakusa district in Tokyo. We wanted to visit one of the oldest temples in Japan when we were met with a pleasant surprise: a special New Years festival! The temple was lined with countless vendors selling some paddles for RIDICULOUS amounts of yen!
Here is a picture of one of the many venders selling New Years paddles, or Hagoita Ichi. The really small paddles were about $50-60 and the large one in the middle was several hundred dollars.
The paddles originated from a game similar to badminton that girls would play on New Years Eve. If a girl missed a shot, she would get ink smeared on her face. The game would continue until one girl's face was completely covered....there are some traditions that I'm glad are dead!
In this picture we caught Mary working her magic at a shop... as you can see the giant smile on her face!
Our next adventure for the night was Tokyo Tower! Seriously, at this point, Tokyo Tower should be paying us for all of the business/publicity we give them. So we got back on the train and headed deeper into Tokyo. On the 1/2 mile walk from the station to the tower our jet lagged visitors began to emanate exhaustion, we needed to hurry up while everyone was in good spirits. Once we got to the top of the tower the beautiful sea of lights of took our guests breath away.
Photo of the famous Rainbow bridge which straddles Tokyo Bay.
Lookin up the perverbial skirt of the Tokyo Tower.
Here is Sam and Mary with big smiles that translate "We are IN Tokyo!" At the bottom of the tower there were lots of Christmas lights and beautiful winter land props which we felt inclined to take pictures with.
It was a great night with everything going smoothly, but it was time to wrap up our fun night in Tokyo. The last train to Tsukuba left around 11:30 and we were cutting it way too close. On our brisk walk back to the station we passed a McDonald's which had several Santa's hanging out and drinking coffee. Sam couldn't pass up the opportunity to ask them for a photo.
If you know Seth and I, then you probably are already giggling at this because Seth misplaces stuff ALL OF THE TIME which I usually find within a few seconds. Unfortunately that wasn't the case for this night. Seth's bike, or rather Matt's bike, got stolen! This is a first for us in Japan, it's usually such a trustworthy place. We couldn't believe it and continued to look for about 30 minutes...sadly we never found it. We decided that we would give it another try in the morning so Seth rode my bike and I just jumped on behind him. Yet another hick-up for HEROW-Japan...
~Katie
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