Comparative Literature....

As many of you know, Darrin and I share a love of fine literature. So you can imagine how excited we were to introduce our boys to the nuances of Japanese writing. Our boys have embraced several Japanese texts, many of which come beautifully illustrated. (That helps, because their Japanese reading skills aren't yet fluent).

Max's most recent purchase was a "Korokoro comiku" which came with a bonus poster.

One side had Pokemon pals.

The other side featured this cheerful character:

And his many, many friends. I'm sorry you have to tilt your head to get the full effect of BeanMan, Fish man and Ge-chan (gecko-chan), below.

And here's Mukimukiunko. He is a deep character, that one. He's friends with Supah-Unchikun and Chinchinkun.

We were gratified that our boys wouldn't be too homesick for the quality short stories they like to read at home--which are also beautifully illustrated....

...and which resonate with many of the same, classic literary themes.

Perhaps someday, Supah-unchikun can join forces with Fred and Harold, and take a ride in Poopsie. Whew, would that be a smelly ride or what! Ha ha ha aaaaaahhhhh....

It's that time of winter....

This is our unmatched glove collection:

We also have a "Pants with holes in the knees" collection. I'm proud to be just like my friend Tiffany in this regard. She has a similar collection this time of year. In her view, it's a sign that spring is coming....

We also have a (seasonless) "mismatched lunch chopsticks collection" and a rapidly expanding "bento straps left at school" collection. I guess that one is more of an un-collection. Apparently even international schools have the black hole that sucks stuff out of boys' backpacks. Never....to be seen.... again.....

Nanzenji Temple

Another day, another temple. We try not to overdo it, but our kids are still getting templed-out; it's an occupational hazard of being in Kyoto. However, Nanzenji is a gorgeous one. One draw is the big gate (which we paid to climb). There is also a lovely garden (which we did not pay to see).

Big gates have large thresholds.
Here I'm going for a reprise of a photo I took two years ago, at the Jefferson Memorial in D.C.
Hey...more stairs!

More incense!

In interesting bit of zoning, a aqueduct goes through part of the temple grounds.

Here is a little side temple.

And then we walked on....

Weekend of New Sports

We are having a three-day weekend. And you'll never guess what we did. Just try. Don't peek.

Okay, I'll tell you. Friday night, we took the boys skating with their school friend, S-kun and his parents. Their school is having a skating party on the 14th, and S-kun's mom thought we should introduce the boys to the whole scene beforehand. She is a genius.

We knew we'd have a good time when Alek said he didn't want to go. At first they looked like this a lot:

But before long, they got the hang of it. I was proud of my boys--taking a chance on a new activity. They hung right in there, even as they accumulated a few dozen bruises. Max had an admirer for a while on the ice, too (a cute girl in a silver jacket). Darrin says he always had good luck with girls at the North Park skating rink, too.

[Edit. Darrin informs me he was only chasing girls at North Park rink. He does not claim to have had any success doing so.]

And yes....Alek already said he wants to go again.

In the center we saw the next Mao Asada.
Here you can see Max prep for his triple salchow.
"Great landing, Max!"

Then tonight, Darrin's friend C-san from Japanese class invited us and some other friends to watch his Capoeria class (a Brazilian martial art). He ended up teaching the kids a few moves. Even cartwheels.

Then the class sits in a circle, clapping and singing while a pair of dancers/artists work in the center.

Once again, proud of my adventurous boys.

You see--it's never enough. New foods, new language, new lifestyle. Need to try some new sports this year, too.

Open, shut them. Open, shut them...

This is a really important message.

Last week, on the train to Amanohashidate, we tried to open some beef jerky my mom had sent from the States, and we mangled it. We didn't have scissors. Can you relate?

It made me appreciate the fact that almost all Japanese packages, large or small, have a precut "akeguchi/kiriguchi" Behold, tomato paste:

Can we also pause to appreciate the convenience of selling tomato paste in 2 tbsp packages? How has this marketing concept escaped Del Monte? Have you, like me, worked with recipes that call for 2T of tomato paste?

Moving on.

Here is the pack of pencil leads we use:

Our juice:

And the peanuts I bought today. Look carefully, folks. It's down at the bottom edge. That little notch whips the package right open. Yee haw!

I could go on, but you'd think I was a little obsessed.

And yet.... ... ...

The envelopes we buy here do not have glue on them.

See? No glue.

You have to GYOG.

Some bentos

I make about 15 bentos per week. I am validating my efforts by posting here. However, you should absolutely not be impressed. If you want to see real bentos, check this out.

A bento for Max. Soba, chicken, sweet potato:

Hugo: rice with sprinkles, fried tofu. A mochi ball.

Alek: same as Hugo's, more tofu, less sprinkles.

A different day: Hugo gets an "H" on his. Quail eggs, mikan, carrots, and yakidofu.
Same thing for Alek, but with kinkan (a tiny little citrus)

Max, too. Just two hot dogs for him.