Matt’s Blog

Oh Boy! How time flies! Reni is 6 now and will start school in April. Our little boy is not so little anymore.

To celebrate Reni’s day we went to the food court at the local shopping centre, Fuji Grand. Reni loves the ‘om-rice’ (rice covered with omelette) they have there.

After dinner we returned to the apartment for celebrations and dessert. As has become custom, the birthday cake was adorned with a train from the Thomas the Tank Engine series whose number corresponds with the age. This year Reni being 6, Percy was on his cream sponge cake.

Although it was a very low-key affair, we all enjoyed Reni’s birthday. And the cake was delicious of course

New Year’s Eve was extremely cold here in Tokushima – so cold in fact that none of us were prepared to venture outside to see in the new year. i didn’t even bother staying up until midnight and was fast asleep by the time we entered the new decade.

An event to be held in the main shopping arcade and on top of Mt Bizan, the mountain overlooking Tokushima, was widely advertised. The flyer said there would be DJs playing at the top of Bizan until sunrise. i thought i’d try to catch the last hour or so of the free music and watch the first sunrise of the year, thus i went to bed early.

It was still dark when i set off but the sky was well lit by a full moon. It was so bright that i didn’t even need to use a light to make my way up the mountain. When i reached the summit all was quiet. Either the djs were playing in the arcade or they had all packed up and gone home because it was just too darn cold. Sunrise was still at least another hour away so i walked around and did some stretching to try and keep warm.

As daylight neared some trucks arrived carrying groups of taiko drummers. A crowd gradually began to form. Witnessing the first sunrise of the new year, known as hatsu-hi-no-de, is a popular tradition in Japan.

From the summit of Bizan we were treated to a spectacular sunrise as the sun rose above the low lying clouds over the Pacific. With the first light the drummers, clad only in light cotton clothing, began beating their drums energetically. Despite the cold it was a good way to welcome the new year.

Later on in the day following lunch we decided we’d try another Japanese New Year tradition, hatsu-mo-de, the first visit of the year to a shrine or sometimes temple (to pray for a prosperous and trouble-free year). Unfortunately it seemed that most people in Tokushima had the same thought as us. The traffic jam leading towards Oasa Jinja, Tokushima’s largest shrine was so long and slow that we soon gave up our plan and decided to just do some sightseeing at Dochu, an interesting formation of sandstone pillars further west of the shrine.

Even along the narrow back roads there was much traffic headed towards the shrine. At times it seemed like it would be impossible to progress any further. Eventually when it seemed we were in the clear we were forced to make another detour because a car had broken down in the middle of the road. By the time we reached the pillars it was nearing dark and the threat of snow was imminent.

After checking out the pillars we retreated to the warmth of the nearby hotel and got some hot udon noodles to warm ourselves up. While we were eating we were visited by an audacious stray cat. It was very vocal and obviously starving as it was prepared to climb onto the table to get at the food despite our presence. We dubbed our new found feline friend the boomerang cat – every time i hurled it from the table it would immediately return to scavenge some more. Perhaps i was a little harsh on the poor pussy but it was quite entertaining!

Two years ago we were fortunate enough to have Mum & Dad & Bec visiting for New Year’s Eve. Last year (a few weeks ago) we were lucky once more; this time Mum & Dad were here for Christmas and New Year.

After Mum & Dad arrived in Tokushima on December 23 we started our Christmas festivities that night at a public event held at a park in Naruto, the next city north of Tokushima. My futsal (5-a-side soccer) team-mate, Dave, kindly advised me about the event.

The park was decoratively lit with Christmas lights, there were vendors selling a variety of food and drinks and free entertainment was provided. Although there were not many people in attendence and the weather was chilly, the event had a warm, friendly, family atmosphere about it. Everyone, adults included, received a stocking full of gifts, kindly provided by the local government.

Before continuing, i should mention that Christmas doesn’t really have a lot of emphasis here in Japan. It’s primarily a time for retailers to take advantage of. Christmas Day is not even a public holiday here so Yoko had to work on the day.

After opening gifts from Santa, the boys and i spent most of Christmas morning opening the multitude of presents that Mum & Dad had heroically lugged all the way from Australia. We received many wonderful presents. Thanks to everybody for their generosity!

From around mid-day we attended a Christmas Party for members of the Tokushima foreign community at Dave’s Mexican restaurant, Sombrero’s, in Naruto. It was a big pot-luck party with many delicious dishes and two mouth-watering roast chickens. In typical Christmas fashion, there was more than enough food to go around.

There were quite a few young children at the party. Santa dropped in to say hello to them and give each child a small gift. Santa happened to be a toned triathlete with a raucous Aussie accent – immediately recognized by Reni as our mate, Aaron. Syd was less accepting of Santa, refusing to venture forward to receive his present from him. While the kids played together with their new toys in the small playground behind Sombrero’s, the parents drank, nibbled and chatted. A good time was had by all.

A couple of weeks ago Syd came down with a fever and runny nose. I took the day off work to take him to the doctor’s to check if he’d contracted the dreaded ’swine flu’. After informing the clinic staff of Syd’s symptoms we were hurriedly rushed out of the waiting room and into an empty room. It was as if Syd might have the plague.

Eventually a doctor came and looked at Syd. After checking his heartbeat, eyes and throat he asked me to hold Syd. He then took a stick about 10cm long and jabbed it up Syd’s nose. And that is how you check for swine flu. Needless to say Syd was rather distraught from this most unpleasant experience. Poor little guy!

Anyhow the test proved negative. “Nothing to worry about,” said the doc. “It’s just a cold.” He proceeded to prescribe a load of drugs and sent us on our way.

Despite the medicine, Syd’s temperature continued to fluctuate. A few days later Reni became sick too. He also got a fever and vomitted. This time Yoko took the boys to the doctor. Once again they were tested. This time the result came back positive.

Both boys were prescribed Tamiflu along with some other medicine to alleviate their symptoms. (All of this came completely free, i should add.) Being contagious, the boys had to stay home for the remainder of the week.

With all the hype surrounding ‘the swine’ H1N1, anyone could be excused for thinking the boys were in a potentially life-threatening condition. Not so. They did sleep a little more in the daytime than they usually would when at home, but besides that they were relatively unaffected. Sure Syd had a runny nose and Reni had a cough but they ate and played at home like they would on any other day.

Reni had recovered enough by the start of last week to return to his kindergarten. The swine had spread by this stage; about one-third of the kids were absent because of it. As a preventive measure the kindergarten was closed for the rest of the week.

Following a public holiday on the Tuesday i took yet another day off work to mind Reni. It seemed kind of pointless to send Syd off to daycare when i could spend time with him so he, Reni and i spent the day together.

Since it was a warm, sunny day i decided it would be nice to venture outside. We went to an onsen hot spring out in the mountains. There was a park and a lake nearby to enjoy too.

We had a great time climbing and ‘riding’ in a space shuttle at the park and checking out the ducks in the lake before soaking in the hot spring baths. After bathing we enjoyed a picnic lunch and a kick of the soccer ball before returning home through the mountains, arriving in time to pick up Yoko from work.

Last month was school sports day for Reni and I since the kindergarten he attends is attached to one of the schools that i work at. School sports day is a big deal here. The kids have to practice intensively in the weeks leading up to the big day when all their parents (and often grandparents too) come to watch.

After the opening ceremony’s marching and speeches and the stretching warm-up Reni competed in the very first event of the day, the ‘dash’ for the kindergarten kids. After a slow start he managed to come in a respectable third out of a field of six. I should also add that he was carrying an injury; a few days prior he took a spill jumping from a rope ladder and grazed his knee quite badly. The knee clearly was sore but Reni participated really well, with a smile on his face the entire time.

Later in the morning Reni also participated in a choreographed dance with the other kids from his kindergarten. Dressed in green, red, blue and yellow tunics and headbands they danced, jumped and turned while waving batons in the air. Once again Reni was a very keen participant and clearly enjoyed himself. It was wonderful to see.

Syd also competed in an event on the day. He and i had to run a short distance in order for him to receive a snack present. At first Syd was very reluctant to partipate but once he realized there was food on offer he soon changed his mind.

Before the day was over Reni got to participate in one last event, this time with Yoko’s dad. I would have participated myself but i had to go to the sports festivals at the other schools that i work at. It’s clear from the photos that both Reni and ‘g-chan’ enjoyed themselves.

After the big day a number of teachers remarked to me how cute Reni is. That’s fine but i really appreciated the comments that noted how well he had participated. I really felt proud when the music teacher commented to me how well he had danced in time with the music. Good job, Reni!

This Saturday gone was sports day for Syd’s daycare centre. Naturally the scale of this event was somewhat smaller than the school sports day but it was just as much fun to see Syd compete as it was Reni.

The events were held indoors at the nearby primary school’s gym. Syd was quite nervous at first and didn’t want us to leave his side. Unfortunately his class didn’t have many events to participate in as the kids are still too small to do much with. Nevertheless he and i had fun together in a little race/game. We ran together in a hula-hoop to a set of cards. Syd then chose one card to decide how we would run together from there to the finish line. There was a choice of koala (piggy-back), monkey (carry in front), rabbit (jump together) or penguin (the child stands on the parents’ feet). We got the penguin card. Syd was still keen to use the hula-hoop though so it took some persuasion and time for us to finish the event.

Reni and Syd also got to compete in a basketball type game where the kids had to throw ball-sized bean sacks into a hoop/goal. I also got to compete in a tug-of-war competition with the other parents. Our team managed to win our first heat after a marathon duel but we were no match for our opponents in the final. Once again, a fun day was had by all.