Stories from Sendai, Issue #2, Oct. 8, 2001

Hello again! We've been in Sendai for almost two months now, and are loving its flavor. Each new day brings its own adventures, but at a distinctly different pace than Cairo. The weather here is a good mix of cloudiness and rain during the week, with sunshine making the weekends that much more delightful. 

One month ago, Todd had his 31st birthday. Because it settled on a Friday -- and Barbara wanted to make his birthday an all day affair -- she waited until Saturday to celebrate it. She had kept the details of the day secret, but did not make use of the blindfold this time. Note for the ill informed: Barbara & Todd, ever since the beginnings of our married days, have kept the details of the birthday outings a secret from each other. Traditionally, a handkerchief has been used to blindfold the birthday person until the birthday surprise was revealed. This has meant many a suspenseful birthday for us both. But even without the blindfold this time, Todd was clueless with a capital C. He had three things in mind that might happen, and none of them were accurate. Barbara and he took the city's bus line to Sendai Station, and walked (passing every conceivable birthday celebration place to Todd's mind) directly to the Loople Sendai bus station. Now, the bus looks like an old time trolley car, but with wheels. Todd and Barbara were just in time to catch it, and Todd was delightfully pleased. This was getting better than he thought! He caught on quickly that this bus toured the city, and found out that you could get off of the bus and back on at each of the stops. Originally thinking we'd make the circuit and then decide to get out at the most interesting stops, Todd and Barbara later opted to get out at the Sendai City Museum stop first. But instead of traipsing to the museum, Barbara insisted on investigating the International Center -- located opposite the museum. It turns out that Sendai, Japan and Dallas, Texas are sister cities, which just goes to show you what a classy town this really is. =-) Dallas donated Cowboys memorabilia, which is on display for any to see, as well as a photo of DFW International Airport. The International Center also had a ton of printed news material as well as a CNN hookup for the casual expat -- regardless of nationality. Next stop was the museum, and Todd was fascinated. Some of the highlights enjoyed were a scale model of the city in its former glory during the days of samurai leader Date Masamune, along with correspondences, tapestries and battle armor. Other intrigues were the historical Buddhist and Christian aspects of Sendai's culture during the samurai and Meiji Restoration movements. After the museum, Todd and Barbara went on to Aoba Castle -- Date Masamune's  old stomping grounds. There isn't a castle there anymore, as it was razed during the Meiji Restoration. But the site lends itself to some grand views of the surrounding countryside and has its own Buddhist temple, of course. Todd treated Barbara to ice cream as we walked around the compound. In one area of the grounds is a large statue of Date Masamune on horseback, of which Todd took a memorial picture. Not 100 meters away was a lone violinist serenading us and the other visitors with beautiful strains, making the day seem somewhat surreal and majestic. Most delightful. There were other stops along the Loople Sendai route that Todd and Barbara could have made -- some art museums and a mausoleum -- but we were both tired after the two stops that we will have to go back another time.  Later that evening, we had dinner at the top of the SS30 building, which had fabulous views of the city.

Not long after Todd's birthday, late on Sept. 10, a typhoon swept up the southeastern portion of Japan and caused lots of damage and problems in Tokyo. The next morning, Sept. 11, the headmaster of our school called and informed us that school would be closed. The calls were made to each of our students, and we enjoyed a day of rest at home. The typhoon did come up toward Sendai -- and buckets and buckets of rain were causing minor flooding in places around town -- but veered away before more damage could be done. Late that night, perhaps 10:30 to 11 p.m., Todd was up checking email and the latest Yahoo news only to read early reports that a single commercial plane had slammed into the World Trade Center in New York. Attempting to find out more, he surfed several other sites, but the information available at that time was extremely sketchy. He let Barbara know as soon as he found out, but when no other information was available on the Web, he prayed for the victims and went to bed. It wasn't really until he woke up on Sept. 12 that the terrible news -- the news he had feared even as he read the reports -- was true. He called home, wondering if everyone was safe and how they were coping with the news of terrorism. At school that morning, the staff was numbed. Our Japanese secretary said the news of the crash was broadcast over and over and over all evening long, and she had stayed up to watch it. It was apparent later that day that some of Todd's third graders had watched it in horror and amazement, too. He let them discuss the tragedy, and let them write about it in their journals, which seemed therapeutic. 

The weekend after the WTC attack, Barbara, Todd, and two of our fellow teachers from New Zealand -- Sue and Daryl -- went on a small walk to the neighborhood of Toshogu. There is a Buddhist temple there that we were interested in viewing. At the entrance to the temple compound, there is a small bridge which leads to a set of steps leading up to another gateway. The temple is actually small, and located at the very top of the set of steps on the hill. There was hardly anyone around the morning we ventured forth, and therefore afforded some solemn moments. The temple grounds are not exactly spectacular, though a fenced off area intrigued Barbara somewhat. Prayers for children -- both living and deceased -- were found off to the side of the temple itself.  About 100 meters or less form the entrance to the temple is another entrance to a small Buddhist garden. Small statues of the Buddha line the walkways, and worshippers have placed one yen pieces on the bases or feet of these statues. Three shrines were found in this garden -- one for children, one for the Buddha and one for another deity -- could all be found in an area perhaps the size of a large backyard. In the center of it all was an old, overgrown and twisted bonsai tree. Nearer the entrance, a shady overhang with a stone table and stone seats was extremely cool and refreshing in contrast to the moderate heat of the day. We ended our outing with sushi (of course) and a stop at the local European patisserie "Maerchen," which Todd has since frequented twice! They have delicious cheesecake and strawberry tarts. Mmmmmmm.

On the corner near our apartment, there is a little "snack bar" -- a tiny place with about 9 seats and one hostess-bartender. Its size reminded Todd of his tiny bedroom in Maryland -- hardly any room to move, but cozy and sensible in its own way. The "karaoke" on the sign attracted us in.  We sat down, caught everyone's interest, by our sheer "gaijin"-ness (foreigners), and ordered something to drink.  They gave us salted soybeans (very tasty here) and gyoza (pot-sticker dumplings), and that was going to be the extent of the visit. But Todd wanted Barbara to sing karaoke with him. Barbara reluctantly asked to see the song list, but was not sure she should sing anything despite the long list of good English songs to choose from (better than Cairo's selections by far).  Then another customer started singing, and she thought, why not!  Todd and Barbara sang our favorite: "California Dreamin'."  Well, the response was amazing!  Claps and cheers, and decidedly insistent urges to continue singing, were brushed off as nothing more than kindnesses. But when the Japanese woman next to Barbara asked her to sing "Yesterday Once More" by the Carpenters (which Barbara didn't know very well), that led to a frantic search for something Carpenter-ish to sing.  We decided on "Top of the World," which brought even more cheers and claps and insistences to continue. Embarrassing? Perhaps, but all in good humor. As a finale, Barbara sang "Sweet Dreams" by the Eurythmics.  After we were finished, the sneaky proprietor -- whose karaoke machine this was -- presented us with a cassette tape of our renditions of both "Top of the World" and "Sweet Dreams."  They had recorded the last two songs!  We haven't been back yet, but it was so much fun. We're due, dontcha think?

Some of you have been asking if we have found a church.  There are two English-speaking churches within easy reach of public transportation.  Praise Community Church meets in our school, and features Japanese and English bilingual worship.  Sendai English Fellowship meets in the Sendai Baptist Church next to Kita-Yobancho subway station.  We have tried both, and have decided to attend SEF.  Strangely, it's mostly because the service is in the evening, and we got used to that in Cairo.  Barbara just started singing with one of the worship teams that have formed.  For a community with a small number of foreigners, there are quite a number of musicians that have recently started coming to church.

One of the wonders of having a faster internet connection (ADSL) is downloading TV episodes.  If you know how to use IRC, you can download all sorts of things.  Barbara recently has figured out how to download "Friends" episodes.  Only hours after the episode shows on TV in the US, it's possible to download and watch it.  The file sizes are really large (100 MB), and take about 2 hours to download, but it's great to see them at all.  Barbara's sister Julie is taping them anyway (thanks Julie!), which is good, because they take up too much space on the hard drive to save.  Now if only she can find "Frasier"....

Our hearts are full, 

We're losing weight, 

We think that Sendai's really great. 

We'll close this out, 

And say farewell, 

Until next month our stories to tell. 

Lots of Love, T&B :-)

Pictures:

Todd standing on a bridge near the International Center. Sendai City Museum is about 500 meters away from this spot.

A Buddhist Temple on the grounds of Aoba Castle. The white pieces of paper hanging from the poles near Barbara are prayers for children.

A view away from the Aoba Castle site.

A view of Sendai at night from the window of a tonkatsu restaurant in the tall SS30 Building.

The Loople Sendai bus has plush red seats, and offers a comfortable tour of Sendai.

A picture taken off the local television of the flooding in Sendai during the typhoon.

Entrance to one of the local Buddhist temples. Barbara and Sue are easy to see, but can you find Daryl? No -- she's not on the steps.

A fenced-off area within the Buddhist temple complex, likely reserved for monks and priests.

A twisted overgrown bonsai tree. The small garden in which this tree is located is less than 100 meters from the Buddhist Temple's entrance.

Todd standing in the Ichibancho -- literally First Street -- which is an open air pedestrian shopping road. Notice the bicycles. The blue and gold thing above Todd's head is an old-style map of Asia (left) and North America (right) with a galleon traveling between the two.

Japan's version of Regis Philbin! "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" is alive and well in Japan, and even includes that famous Japanese phrase: "Finaru Ansah."