1.29.23
You might have clicked on this post thinking "kinen no tameni? Huh?" And thus, conveniently we start with a quick Japanese lesson:
kinen = 記念 memory no = の for tameni = ために the sake of
So, put it together and we have: kinen no tameni = for the sake of memory.
One of my biggest fears in life is loss. Having something, then suddenly realizing it is gone and can never be retrieved...this has and still is something I find myself trying to thwart in many ways. These last few weeks went by so quickly, and it seems the longer I am here, the quicker my days, weeks, and months seem to leave me behind. And of course, this is something for which I am so grateful, because as my favorite cliche goes, "time flies when you're having fun!" or in Mama Cho's words, "time flies like a bird." But this speedy passage of time is also something of which I am so scared. The present can never be recreated and moments are so easy to forget, so easy to lose.
I've been trying to grapple this for a while, and I've come to accept that rather than fearing this loss of time/experience/moment, it might be better just to savor it as one savors every last drop of the most delicious hand-churned ice cream. And so, I'm working on trying to be okay with just being fully present in a moment rather than worrying about how to preserve it. This way, I won't completely lose hold of the whole moment in the coming seconds. Yet, perhaps it won't hurt to still write some happenings down so 30 year old Kai can fondly recall some of the smaller events that were still super-tokimeki-filled impacts on the 1.5 Yakage adventure.
1. While appreciating the frigid morning sculpting my puffs of breath, I happened to see four sparrows lined perfectly along a phone line. They were just there. Sitting. Being. It made me think how peaceful their view of a waking Yakage must be.
2. "A...B...C...how do you write D again? Ohh I got it! Okay, E...F...G..." I-kun, eyebrows furrowed and hand with the marker pressed a little too forcefully on the whiteboard, was hard at work writing out the alphabet. "...H....I...J...." S-chan came along and started writing his own alphabet, which caught N-kun's attention who started figuring out his own: "...K...L....M...N...oh wait the diagonal is backward!....O..."
My Oda kiddos eventually made it to Z and seeing this determination, then getting to encourage it until completion, was something that made me feel so gratified.
3. Who doesn't love getting to do a teppanyaki party with your favorite 80 year old friends? The Komotos had me over for okonomiyaki and yakisoba, and I don't lie when saying they know how to man the grill. While prepping for lunch (which included cutting a fresh whole tentacle of octopus), they also found out about my obsession for roasted sweet potatoes. And so, of course, they had the special satsumaimos to roast on their charcoal grill, and after an hour...holy moly did I get to INDULGE on some golden deliciousness. Though the potatoes' sweetness still did not match the Komoto's sweetness. Both my heart and stomach were unsurprisingly mega-filled for the rest of the day.
4. I've found the perfect Saturday winter morning routine...wake up at 6:30, read under the cocoon of blanket warmth until 8:15, dress into running gear by 8:30 to embark on a morning run towards Yakage's best roasted sweet potato stand, open weekend mornings at 9AM. Every step of the 2 miles is worth it after getting to unwrap the newspaper blanketing the roasted sweet potato, then biting into its pillow-like goodness.
5. Himeji Castle! Six floors of grand woodwork! White walls resembling the wings of a white heron! Or maybe a wedding cake! Tis in the eye of the beholder! The historic castle visit followed by oden! And best of all, all this done with Yifan! Wow! A bico reunion! Too many exclamation points!
6. My kiddos have been getting ready for their "market festival" happening on Wednesday, and this means legit scarves made by little hoikuen hands. S-chan crafted a beautiful orange scarf, and decided he'd let me try it on at 1:35. At 1:37, he stopped what he was doing, grabbed the scarf, took me by the hand toward the mirror, then wrapped the scarf around me with his original "this will keep you warm...are you warm?" style. I was warmed not only by his scarf, but his immensely caring heart. These kids bring me so much JOY!
Other key-word events: yakiniku tabehoudai with ma-chan & fam, tottori crab with meat as soft as cotton candy, learning anko and black bean recipes from various baba-chans (kyoko-san, tomoko-san, mimura-san) a corner of smiles and beauty found inside a quaint children's book store, sushi making party with the Mimura family, talking about ozoni styles with the Yakage Hospital doctors before clawing at each other's necks for handwarmers in our white elephant, warming up late at night with a cup of amazake made by me for me...hehehe.
Perhaps there will be another post similar to this in the near future. I know I write this repeatedly, but how lucky am I to live in a place where it's so easy making memories I want to keep forever.
crabs!
scarves!
amazing drawing of banana air balloons and lemon enemeies by my student, m-chan
stRAWberrIES! By James!!
sushi party with the mimuras!
