About
TFiJ42: Luke’s 1st official gold medal
Hey! Luke finally got one: his 1st official swimming gold medal! And he set a course record to boot! Awesome.
Luke is no stranger to gold medals (see previous post), but they have always been of the symbolic kind, a reward for participation or acknowledgement. He had yet to grab one all by himself in a sanctioned competition. Well, that wall came crashing down on the morning of July 23, 2011. Luke swam fastest in the 25m backstroke to claim his first shiny trinket. He also managed to grab on in the 25m breast stroke and changed his IM relay team’s medal from bronze to silver with an electrifying anchor leg. (By the way… It’s so cool to call my 10 year old “electrifying”!) The meet was a qualifier for a big B&G national race in Tokyo, to be held on August 14th. This was the race Luke competed in last year as a 3rd grader. This time he’ll be at the top of his age group, so he really has a chance for a medal. He made the final in the backstroke last year, but was only about 7 seconds off the winning time. He has improved a lot in this past year, and he is close to what it will take to win, both in the back and breast strokes. This is a big reason coach mama has been training him hard this summer and why I’m always going on about swimming. A medal in a national-level race would be a huge accomplishment, and it’s within the realm of possibility, hence the hard work! Despite Luke’s good results during the B&G meet, coach mama was not impressed. She can spot imperfections in his form with ruthless precision and made no bones about how unhappy she was at his performance. For her, a gold medal in a little local race doesn’t mean much- her eyes are on the Tokyo prize. So in this respect, mama and papa looked at Luke’s accomplishment with different eyes. I’m all “wow, my kid actually won something (that I never did)!” For Shinobu, who was a champion swimmer in her day and has a closet full of medals and trophies, it was like “why couldn’t you keep your hands together on your start? How many times have I told you to stop putting your hand into the water at the wrong angle? Why didn’t you count your strokes during the last five meters?” Seems harsh to me at times, but this is the way of sports. It’s all about striving to be your best, of working hard for a goal, of never being satisfied, always pushing for more. It’s quite intense, if you ask me, but the thing is I know my wife loves Luke SO MUCH, and I know he knows that, too. Their relationship is very deep and very interesting, so I’m confident that all this intense tough-love stuff Luke is experiencing these days is for the best. It’s like my wife is an artist, building some real skills into our son. Luke will have a real advanced skill going forward and understand very deeply about the value of hard work. I’m excited to see what sort of man he’ll grow into!
TFiJ41: Max’s 4th Birthday Photo Shoot
Max turned four on March 7th, 2011. To celebrate we went to our favorite restaurant in Yatuso, Erbaccia. It’s an Italian place run by a friend of ours. Great pizza and gorgonzola cheese pasta… Anyway, the following morning we did what we always do with the kids on or near their birthday each year: go to a photo studio for getting their portrait taken. We’re collecting these professionally done photos on our bedroom wall, and it was time to add to our Max collection! This year was even more fun than usual, not only because Max is older and cuter than ever, but also because the studio we always patronize had moved into a larger building. It was great! Tons of space and an even wider selection of costumes awaited our little candy girl. Max too her time picking out a few dresses to wear. They all looked good to Shinobu and I (except for the Buzz Lightyear one!), but Max was in major “ya-da” (no way!) mode. She refused everything we put in front of her until FINALLY she settled on a couple of very cute numbers. They have a big dressing room where they doll up the kids before taking their photos. It’s quite the production! The staff woman was a pro and transformed Max into heights of cuteness that left me dizzy! She had her hair done, make-up put on, and then was outfitted in this amazing dress. The photo taking was a blast, too. They had several different set-up. There were three staff ladies working together to take care of Max. One would shoot photos, the other would attend to her positioning, and the other took care of the backdrops and props. Great teamwork! It was quite the production. This short video captures this fun annual experience. If you go back to a similar one I made when Max turned two, you can see how much she has grown. The new photo (the one featured above) is now sitting pretty on our bedroom wall…
TFiJ40: Hikiyama Festival 2011
On May 3rd, one of the “Golden Week” national holidays in Japan, the annual Hikiyama festival was held in our town. This festival consists of elaborately decorated floats being pulled around town all day. I read this tradition began in the mid-18th century, when Yatsuo was flush with cash from the booming local silk worm industry. Each of the core six neighborhoods have constructed a float.
They are works of master craftsmanship, overflowing with intricate wood carvings, dolls, metal work, golden leaves, and embroidery. The men of each neighborhood work in teams to pull these things around, which is no mean feat- they are huge and heavy. Musicians ride inside, playing traditional Japanese instruments such as the shamisen, flutes, and drums. It’s quite a nice day, as the community becomes transformed back in time to an earlier, more traditional era. It’s a big tourist draw, naturally, so the town really comes to life. This festival, along with its larger and more famous fall counterpart (the Owara Kaze no Bon), are pillars of the local economy and serve to maintain a connection to the local cultural heritage.
Shinobu’s home (and where her parents currently live) are in one of the six core neighborhoods. Her brother Takuya is part of his neighborhood’s float-pulling team. This year he had wheel duty, and was responsible for rotating one of the four huge wooden wheels. Tough job! Luke, because of his family connection to the neighborhood, also participated. He got to help pull the ropes a bit and also enjoyed riding in the top with other children. It was a long day for him, but he seemed to have a good time. In the evening, the floats transformed from day to night mode. Each of the decorative elements were carefully removed and replaced with lanterns. The effect is quite magical.
In this our 40th episode, I used a borrowed camera from work, one that shoots in high-definition. It shows our experiences from the day, including Max and I watching the floats, Luke riding in the top, uncle Takuya rolling the wheel, and having dinner at the grandparent’s house. I hope you like it!
TFiJ39: Luke’s Super Chibiko Challenge
On the first day of Golden Week, Luke participated in the 23rd annual “Super Chibiko Challenge”, a sports event open to elementary school kids in Toyama Prefecture from grades 4-6. Each school is permitted to send up to six kids, a boy & girl from each grade. Luke’s school, Sugihara Elementary, sent only two: he and a 5th grade girl. So the pressure was on for Luke to perform! No, not really… It was just a fun opportunity for Luke to compete against some of the best athletes in this area. The competition was pentathalonic in nature- five events that challenged the kids to display their overall athletic ability: 100m Dash (speed, leg strength) Softball Long Throw (throwing, arm strength, form) Zig Zag Dribble (speed, control, dexterity) Long jump (jumping, speed, form) 50m Freestyle Swim (Swimming) Most kids, Luke included, are good at one or more of these events, but rarely all of them. This was the challenge- to show your stuff in sports that require a wide variety of skills. Luke’s strengths were speed and swimming. He has strong legs, is in top physical condition (due to regular swimming and soccer practice), and he likes to compete. However, he had virtually ZERO experience three of the events (softball, dribbling, and long jumping). Luke has never gotten into baseball and has never dribbled a basketball to my knowledge. He had also never done any proper long jumping. So we went into this competition with some big question marks- how would Luke do given his lack of experience?
Training for the event
In the two weekends before the event, we took Luke out to the Yatsuo Sports Arena (where Shinobu used to work) for some training. It felt like too little too late, as if we were cramming for a big test. There was simply too much too do and too little time. We focused primarily on the dribbling, since Luke had never done that before. Here you can see a photo of him practicing. Thankfully, he seemed to pick it up pretty quick, although his skill was shaky. To avoid mistakes, we emphasized proper technique and control. Also before bed Luke had to do the following routine: 100 dribbles with his left hand, then right hand, then 200 dribbles switching between left and right. As for the throwing, this was much more problematic. Luke has never really gotten into baseball despite this being a baseball-mad country. Usually kids enter one of two team sports- baseball or soccer, and obviously Luke chose the latter. In addition, I have not insisted we go out and play catch. This was my failure as a papa! Hard to believe given that “Field of Dreams” is one of my favorite movies! With two weeks to go, we finally started, but I could see that Luke just didn’t have the form or arm strength to heave a softball very far. Regarding the Long Jump, we did manage to make it out to the Toyama Sports Complex the weekend before to give it a go. But it was a cold day, Max was with us and feeling crabby, and Luke only got to jump a couple of times. At least he got to see where the competition would be held! So overall, there was not much more we could do- just rely on his basic athletic sense and hope for the best. Our game plan was for him to do his best in his weaker events and hope that his excellence in running and swimming could make up for his weaknesses. It was clear that winning the event was a pipe dream, but we were looking forward to see Luke have fun and learn a lot for next year. The big event April 28th, the first day of the “Golden Week” holiday period, was cool, windy, and partly sunny. The sky threatened rain, but it never really did (thank goodness!). We arrived at 8:30am and got Luke registered. Fortuitously, he was grouped with his two Yatsuo Swim Club mates, Akihiro and Kento, who belong to different elementary schools. Kento was #1, Aki #2, and Luke #3. This ensured they would go first in all the events and get to spend the day together. This ended up being one of the best things that happened to Luke on the day- he could relax and really enjoy hanging out with his buds. 100m Dash As expected, it was a close race between Luke and his two friends. They all ran well and finished 1-2-3, with Luke coming in 3rd by only 1/10 of a second. After the race, the boys were interviewed by a TV crew. This was fun to watch! Luke’s first media event. I hope the first of many… I was surprised that their times stood up; no other boy managed to run as fast. Cool! Zig Zag Dribble Luke did a great job in this event, posting a time of 18 seconds in each of his two runs. He kept in control and avoided any mistakes. He didn’t have the fastest time, but that was okay- the trick with this competition is to do above average in your weak events and then excel in your strong ones. So far so good! Softball Long Throw (Sigh) This is where the wheels came off for Luke. He could only manage a best throw of 16 meters, with was about half the average length. Of course he finished last, and this really hurt him points-wise. Looking at the video I took in slow motion, I could see that his form looked okay, but he just couldn’t throw it very far. For all the other kids it seemed that throwing a ball was as natural as walking, but not for Luke. Too bad! We’ll really have to work on this area for next year. Long Jump Luke did pretty well in this event. He managed a best jump of 3 meters, which was solidly above average. Given that he had virtually never done this before, I was really excited by this result. The winning jump was 3.7 meters, so with practice Luke only needs another 70 cm or so… With some practice, he has a chance to win this event next year. 50m Freestyle Swim We expected Luke to do real well in this event, and in the end, he did pretty good, finishing 3rd overall. We knew Kento would win it since this is his best stroke (Luke’s is the breast stroke). 36 seconds was not his best time, so that was a bit disappointing, but given that he was tired and had no chance to warm up, it was not bad. Looking at the video in slo-mo we could see some points he can improve on. I’m sure coach mama will make sure he does! Awards Ceremony During the awards ceremony, they gave out prizes in each individual event as well to those kids who finished in the top 10. Luke made the podium twice, getting 3rd in the 100m dash and swimming. He was very happy about this- perhaps too happy for “anything-less-than-#1-is-nothing” coach mama. Still, it was great to see him get recognized. On the other hand, Luke missed out on the top 10, due primarily to zero points in the softball throw. What’s more, his friend Aki finished 1st overall (go Aki!) and Kento finished 4th. He was quite bummed about this, to say the least! Still, there was enough here that he went home happy overall.
Reflections
This event was a real good experience for Luke. Going in with almost no background in a majority of the events, he could challenge himself and push beyond himself. I hope he could at least intuitively pick out the bigger message, that there are no limits to what he is capable of achieving if he sets his mind to it. This is a big reason why I’ve come to love sports and competition in general, especially as a parent. It’s a great tool for teaching valuable life lessons. Of course there are down sides, and we need to take care not to over do it. But watching Luke run, jump, and swim brings us great joy. He’s healthy and having fun, and you can’t beat that.
We’ve already begun preparing for next year’s event. Luke has joined the track and field club at his school, so from now on each Saturday morning will be dedicated to learning how to run fast and jump far. We’ll also be playing a lot more catch, to be sure! Now that we know what it will take to win, we have a clear path in front of us. The choice of pronouns here is intentional- Luke is doing all the competing, but he’s got his family fully behind him. We’ll do it together and see how far we can go. Here’s the video. It’s my first one in high-definition! I filmed the event using a new camera I borrowed from Chukyo University.
TFiJ38: Winter 2011 (Driving Max to School)
Here is the 2nd in a series of videos on our experiences from the amazing winter of 2011. This is a simple tale, of my daily duty of taking our daughter Max to nursery school each morning. On this particular morning (January 31st), the snow was at its peak. Please come along for the 2 km ride to school through the winter wonderland that was our neighborhood.
For all of you living outside Japan, you’ll notice some Japanese customs and things in this clip. One is that all kids walk to school after reaching 1st grade, no matter the weather. No school buses here! The route we took is the one Luke walks on every day. There is quite a system set up to facilitate this, with neighborhood groups, group leaders, appointed meeting times, and parents volunteering to stand guard at busy intersections. It’s quite a production. Kids still in nursery school and kindergarten (like Max) get driving to school by a parent. This makes for quite the traffic jam in the mornings! I was fortunate to get a parking spot in front of the school that morning… usually I park illegally in front of the school gate! Another Japanese thing is not wearing outdoor shoes indoors. You can see that Max had to change in the entrance area, called a genkan. All schools have shelves to keep shoes in this place. Again, it can be quite busy when everyone arrives at about the same time. At Max’s school, they have all the kids exercise first thing in the morning. They run around the large hall to get their energy warmed up. It’s pretty cool and a lot of fun to walk through. We were a bit late that morning, so Max missed this part.
Oh, you’ll also notice that Max was wearing what looked like a surgical mask upon entering the school. What’s up with that? Well, here in Japan, when someone catches a cold or has the sniffles, they wear a mask out of consideration of others. It’s quite normal to see people of all ages wearing these masks in public. I’ve never gotten used to this and never bother, but the kids don’t mind. Finally, it’s a Japanese thing for parents to help put all their kid’s stuff in the right place. It’s quite an elaborate set of tasks that need to be done. It took me a LONG TIME to figure this routine out! There are so many things to remember, and everything needs to be just right. Don’t know if it’s this way in American nursery school as well… If there is anything else you can pick up in this video that you’d like to know more about, please let me know! There’s a story behind every little thing… this is part of what makes living here so interesting.
TFiJ37: Max’s 1st time sledding & skiing
Here is the 2nd in a promised series of videos on our experiences from the legendary winter of 2011. Of all our family members, Max especially had a great time this year. For the first time in her life, she was able to go sledding and skiing. Shinobu and I really enjoyed introducing these staple winter activities to her and watching her play.
TFiJ36: Winter 2011-Yuki Oroshi
Hey everyone! Long time no message. Hope you all are well, wherever you are. As I type it’s nearly March, and the snow from this record-breaking winter is melting away fast. Before it all goes away, I’d like to put out a series of videos that chronicle some of our experiences during this favorite season of mine. What with all the snow, it’s been an amazing ride.
This clip features a fun chore that quickly got old after two days- shoveling snow off of our roof. In Japanese, this is called “yuki oroshi”. Yuki means “snow”, and “oroshi” is a verb that means “to fall”. Here in Toyama, and on the west coast of Japan in general, the snow comes down wet and heavy. A typical season has about three or four storms, which can dump anywhere from one to 100 centimeters of snow. In recent years we’ve seen less and less snow, and the melting cycles between each storm have grown in length. A couple of years ago we almost didn’t get any snow at all! Ski areas had to shut down in January, which is crazy. Anyway, all this is set up for this winter, one for the record books. It started snowing on Christmas Eve, and for the next month it basically didn’t let up! We’d have some days with out much snow, but the normal melting between storms didn’t happen, and as a result, snow built up and up until it reached crazy amounts. Naturally this caused some havoc, as travel was made difficult and roofs creaked under the immense weight of the wet snow.
When we built our house, we designed the roof so that snow would slide off easily. This was to prevent snow from accumulating and then potentially damaging our home. Problem was, we put the front door in the wrong place! Snow sliding off the roof would block the entrance and make getting in and out a pain. Finally, several years ago, we put these “snow stopper” rails on the roof. These blocked the snow from sliding off too quickly and saved a lot of work. Everything was cool until this year- with all the snow, too much accumulated, and we had to get up on the roof to shovel it off. This was a tremendous amount of work. It started off fun, as the video shows, but after two days it became old! After five consecutive days of shoveling, I was exhausted. Still, the experience was a memorable one, and I’d like to share it with you all here. In subsequent videos I’d also like to share some of the other fun stuff we did this winter. We really did have a good time. Until next time, take care!
TFiJ35: Setting up the tree 2010
Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope you’re all having a good holiday season. This little clip attempts to capture some of the fun we had last weekend setting up our fake Christmas tree. We have this dancing Santa toy that sings “Jingle Bells” ad infinitum, and the kids started to dance and dance along with it. Things began to escalate, and before you know it, we were all dancing around the room. It was a scream. Hope you like it!
TFiJ34: Trekking the Japanese Northern Alps 1
Last year young Luke climbed his first mountain, Mt. Tateyama, here in Toyama Prefecture. This year’s trekking trip was more ambitious- 3 days, 2 nights in the mountains of Nagano Prefecture. What an amazing trip! This episode, the first in a series of three, tells the story of our 1st day, one that featured a climb up the largest field of year-round snow in Japan, the “Daisekkei”. With this video I’m aiming to not only tell a family story, but also to introduce what it’s like to trek in this beautiful part of our world. Hope you like it!
