what about bob?

... He is Risen Indeed!

Happy Easter! It has really been an interesting experience being in Japan over Easter. Easter is such foreign concept here, almost everything about it. The don't really know the word "easter" and most people don't know why its celebrated and what bunnies have to do with anything. I have to admit I have been stumped a couple of times with questions like "why do you have an Easter bunny?" I admit I had to search the internet for an answer to that one. I found varying answers, but the one I think makes some sense is that early Christians tried to coincide their holidays with pagan festivals so their celebrations wouldn't be as noticed. Apparently Eastre was the name of a goddness who was celebrating in spring with focus on new life and reproduction (hence where the rabbit came from). So there's a little lesson for you.

Last night we had youth at Karis' church and we had hid chocolate eggs and bunnies. When we told them that, one girl was like "What??" and she was so confused and so Karis started leading her on saying that there were chunks of rabbit in the chocolate (which actually wouldn't be that wierd for here:) ) or that it was a real bunny coated in chocolate! Ha! It was funny, but that gives you an idea of how foreign the concept is here for everything that we are used to about easter. We also dyed Easter eggs with some of her English classes. It was neat to see how excited the kids were because they had never heard of or done anything like it before. Even when the parents saw it they were asking how we did it.

Okay, back to some explanations from the other day...

Barefeet: Well, feet in general is a big thing here. You never wear your shoes into someones house, you always put on slippers. The church here has a big bin of slippers so everyone who comes in takes off their shoes and puts on slippers. But then you also have to wear different slippers in the bathroom, because the bathroom is "dirty." So, I don't know if this is exactly related but the other day Karis and I were both wearing sandles and a lot of people were looking at us and commenting or just staring.

Names of Cars: There are a lot of cars here with English names such as Naked, March, Athletic, and Latte. Most of the cars here are from Japanese car companys, I've seen a few German cars (VW's and BMW's) but I've only seen one Ford, and no other American companys. Also, the cars here are all different shapes and styles from the ones we have. Most are smaller and cube shaped. Oh yeah, one thing I didn't know is that they drive on the left side of the road here (like England) so that takes some getting used to... even for walking because I look the wrong direction to check if a lane is clear before crossing the street!

Cherry Blossoms: Or "Sakura" as they are known here. They bloom every April and they are a big, and I mean BIG, deal here. The part that is different from home (other than the trees themselves) is how much the Japanese take time out to view them. Every year, almost everyone goes to take a trip to see some cherry blossoms and have a picnic. They even have a special word for having a picnic while watching cherry blossoms (hanami). There is such a love of beauty and nature here. For examples... Beauty: In food its more important that it looks good than the taste. So much of the food has intricate details and great presentation. Nature: If something (a rock or tree for example) is particularly beautiful it will get a special place in a garden or temple grounds, just so people can admire. To sit and watch the beauty in the world is a really great part of the culture here that I hope I can take home with me.