Hamamatsu Hakujin

A little under the weather!

Well, the cold has settled in over Japan and everyone is getting out there stoves (gas heaters - will tell more in my next post), kotatsus and hot carpets. Uniqlo (Japan's version of Gap) is having their annual sale on sweat suits and all the newspaper ads are advertising the best deal on winter stuff (above mentioned items). In addition, I have mananged to catch myself a nice little cold. Not that bad mostly just a bad headache. It gets me every year. You know in the US we have central heating, but in Japan most homes use kersosene (I think it's kerosene smells like it) stoves. I just fired mine up tonight for the first time this year. I held Luna for the first time today. She no longer has to live in the incubator and I fed her a bottle of milk. She is so cute. It was such a nice feeling. She is still pretty small. She weighs approximately 2000 grams now and after about another week she will be coming home. My wife Rie came home yesterday - she is well but still in a bit of pain. I have to apologize, not much of a post tonight because my head is killing me. I will get back ASAP. It's funny how addicting this blog stuff is. I can't go through a day without checking my stats or posting. I'll tell you what though, it's about the most free type of information sharing in the world. It' so nice to be able to connect with people from all over the world and hear such constructive (and sometimes unconstructive opinions. Let's all hope the people of northern Japan that have been effected by the recent earthquakes may soon find solitude and comfort and that those that have perished have crossed over to a better place/life..etc more peaceful than this one. Also, for the Japanese hostage as well as all the rest of the people (no matter what their religion or race) that are suffering may have a better life soon. Someday, hopefully people will learn to cooperate with each other, agree to disagree with each other and learn to look at each other as fellow humans. It can happen...I know it doesn't seem so, but I really believe it can happen some day. We at least owe to our children to try. After all, it really is a very small world. All you have to do is go outside and look up at the night sky and stars, realize how large the universe really is and when looked at from that perspective one can see that the difference between a black person and a white person, an American or Iraqi, a muslim christian or jew is so insignificant and if we can just learn to look at each other with an open mind we really are only a very small step away from a whole different type of world. Well, as you can probably tell the drugs must be kicking in. Time to turn in for the night.

The State of the US and it’s relations with Japan / World

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima recently made the statement “the U.S.-Japan relationship has never been better” after seeing Tom Cruise throw the opening pitch in the Japanese baseball world series. He is not the only person to have made these claims lately. I however, beg to differ. While I don’t claim to be a political or economic expert (And probably never will be) I have serious doubts about this claim. Now I am basing statements on my own experiences in my home state of Oregon and Living back and forth between there and Japan over a period of about the last 10 years. It seems to me that The U.S. enjoyed better relations with Japan during the later 80’s and early half of the 90’s. I feel that the deterioration of those ties has slowly taken place ever since. I wonder sometimes what the people making these claims are basing there decisions on. It can’t be tourism, because while I don’t have any hard evidence it sure seems to me that there were a heck of a lot more tourists in Oregon and the US during the above stated time. Oregon shared excellent relations with Japan. For as small of a city as we are you couldn’t go hardly anywhere without seeing tons of Japanese tourists…they loved Oregon. There was even a drama created by fuji Television when I was younger called “From Oregon with Love” it starred Toshiro Mifune and was about a young Japanese boy that came to live with his Nisei uncle in eastern Oregon and the hardships and joys he experienced. It also gave a health boost to the Japanese tourism sector. Why isn’t anything like this being done now days? It just seems like the US was more on the ball and outward reaching at that time. Our schools were packed with exchange students, the Coach, Tiffany and other high end fashion stores sprung up as a result of this tourism boom. Direct flights connecting Tokyo as well as Fukuoka (I believe Nagoya as well) were established during this era. The tax dollars earned practically built the new Portland International Airport Terminal. There was a whole wing devoted to Japanese Tourism which even boasted a small ramen shop (wasn’t great but hey it was a damn good start). Then everything just went to hell in a hand basket almost over night. Tourism started declining Exchange student ratios started dropping and before long Delta cancelled its direct flights which just killed Oregon. Yeah, there are those that say it was because of the economy or it was because most Japanese tourists in Oregon were just stop overs on the flight to Chicago and when Boeing came out with the new jet that could fly directly to Chicago it killed the Oregon flights. I think this was all a bunch of crap. The people who made those claims don’t know the Japanese. I’ll tell you why the Japanese stopped coming. One of the main reasons was that the damn immigration bureau was deporting high numbers of Japanese back home and denying entry on a large scale. I wasn’t just the Japanese too. One Chinese female banker coming to Oregon on a business trip was strip searched and jailed (she later sued and won a decent size settlement), Groups of Japanese business men were denied entry on several occasions, My own wife was sent back to Japan once for having a spelling error on her Passport regardless of the proof supplied that she was married to an American citizen. Once an 11 (I think it was 11) year old girl from China was jailed for several months because of a visa problem. I can still vividly remember during my first couple stays here in Japan having talked to some random people and hearing that they were sent home from Oregon. One time I was getting a haircut and the barber asked where I was from and I said Oregon, he then replied….”oh…I was sent home once from Oregon” it was pretty bad. Since, Portland has been through a couple of Immigration officials but nothing has changed, in fact with the U.S.‘s new homeland security program has made it much worse in my opinion. I think the problem is even deeper than that. I think it lies within the average Americans attitude and culture of disrespect and self-centeredness. I hate to say just as much as anyone else but man us Americans really need to step back and look at ourselves as a culture and makes some adjustments. American foreign travelers and ex-pats will be the first to tell you how our hard earned image, respect and rights abroad are being tarnished due to the U.S.’s blindness to these issues. I can’t remember ever running into such resistance and distrust ever. Needless to say I have only been at this for 10 years but still. Almost every other industrialized western nation has reciprocal working holiday visas with Japan, but not the U.S. In fact, I’ve heard recently that there are some plans under way to change the 90 day visa waiver program that the U.S. has had for quite some time with Japan by limiting the length to only 30 days. Americans can no longer switch our driver’s licenses over to Japanese ones anymore, but England, Canada, Australia and many other countries can. Is it really happening? Are America’s Neo Con’s taking over and sinking us into an Isolationist type mentality? What is happening to the Country I grew up in and nationality that I proudly carried around with me? The U.S. has most favored trade status with countries can’t we have most favored immigration status too. We need to take better care of our friends. Japanese citizens rarely ever cause trouble and are great tourists and I miss the feeling of friendship that seemed so much more apparent with Japan and other countries in the not so distant past. America is becoming an ugly place. Horrible obesity problems and record diabetes problems, millions without healthcare, a dwindling school system that is a joke, losses of civil rights and dwindling separation between church and state. What does this tell the rest of the world? If we won’t even take care of our own how in the hell can we convince others that we are going to help them and why would they trust us. I see light at the end of the tunnel but, man it sure seems far away and I fear things are going to get much worse before they get better. I am afraid of the thought of going back to the U.S. to live. I don’t want to work at Wal-Mart or Costco I don’t want to eat food that is unhealthy and I sure don’t want my child to go to school in the society as it now exists . I don’t think Kerry winning the election is the save all either. I think it is going to take a total revamping of American values and culture, reaching out to the international community. We need to cooperate with our allied nations better and stop strong arming everyone. Hopefully, things will change for the better, but the next 5-10 years will be extremly significant in the U.S. I just hope I will be able to see the country as I knew it and that I love earn back the respect that past Americans have worked so hard to create.

Freak of Nature

An unusual freak of nature occurred yesterday evening in the northern Japanese prefecture of Niigata. No, I am not referring to the magnitude 6.8 earthquake that shook buildings as far away as Tokyo, or the multiple aftershocks that followed. I am referring to the derailment of a JR Shinkansen train 6 kilometers from JR Nagaoka station at about 6pm. The train was traveling around 200kmph on a 13 meter high bridge at the moment of derailment. Now to someone living anywhere else in the world this might not seem that unusual but this is in fact the first time a bullet train has derailed in Japan since they started service 40 years ago in 1964. Now I don’t know any country in the world that can boast that kind of record. In addition, no one was severely injured (or possibly injured at all – I was unable to confirm). I travel on the Shinkansen quite often from Hamamatsu to Tokyo and I must say that I would choose it over an airplane any day of the week. One must take caution however, not to occupy a smoking car (unless you are a smoker). The amount of second hand salaryman smoke could kill Godzilla. Another thing I would recommend is purchasing a reserved seat ticket as they are not (in my opinion) significantly more expensive enough to gamble sitting on the floor in between cars. If you have the chance to travel south from Tokyo make sure to sit on the right side of the train as you will have a beautiful view of Mount Fuji (weather permitting). While there are many things you can criticize about Japanese trains, danger and punctuality are not among them. The only time I have seen a late train is when on several occasions a drunk oyaji (old man) in a drunken stumble took the last fall of his life or some poor soul decided to end their life (when this happens the family is mailed the tab – honest). As with many aspects of Japanese life responsibility is generally taken so seriously that the train companies offer written explanation or proof of delay slips upon exit for employees to provide to their companies in such cases. So Japan Rail, we won’t hold this one against you. Thanks for the safety and punctuality you have provided to millions of us since 1964. Hopefully, it will be another 40 before it happens again.

Being a Father

On my last post "Proud New Father" Darren from Notes To Myself left a kind comment and then asked, "I wonder how exactly you must be feeling - is it something you wouldn't understand until you've experienced it?". This question got me thinking last night. I was wondering how I could explain and answer this question. First of all I think that the concept of being a Father can probably be understood fairly well, but I guess something happens when you first look at your child that must be experienced to truly understand the feeling. I don't think that anyone is ever really ready for fatherhood. I mean of course financial security, stability, and a good, understanding solid relationship with your partner helps a lot, but not even that can always guarantee that you are ready. I don't think being a father is for everyone but there are something’s in life that you just can't plan perfectly (mentally and physically) for and I believe this is one of them. It's something that you just have to go for if you think you want it. I think often you will be formed into a father naturally upon the occurrence of it. Now I will try to explain the feeling. Most of us have had a girlfriend or wife currently or at some point in time whom we believe/believed we truly loved, but I strongly feel that romantic love is never unconditional....there are always conditions in a romantic relationship whether we mean to create them or not...they always exist. When you have a child though, you get a true feeling of what unconditional love is. Let me explain. Being a Father never really hits you until you see and hear your child at least with me it was this way. When you first see and hold your child you realize how weak they are and how completely dependent they are on you and that you and your partner alone will be the biggest influence in deciding this young child's future and existence. It is a feeling of complete power and complete submissiveness simultaneously. It makes you stronger in ways than you ever thought you could be and it makes you weaker and more vulnerable than you ever thought you could be as well. It gives new purpose and meaning, and reason to your life. It makes you mature and grow as a human being in a way that you never thought possible. Now being a parent can also lead to the utter destruction of your relationship as well, but if you understand you and your partner’s role and try to help and understand each other it can make your relationship stronger. It does take both partners though. For me being a father is complete and unconditional love, a comfort in knowing that something now exists that you are gladly willing to die for if necessary, and whom gives you the strength to do just about anything that you have to in order to make sure that they are protected, and cared for properly. Well, I guess that is about my best shot at trying to explain fatherhood. I have to admit it is a little harder than I first thought. There are many people out there whom have been a father a lot longer than I have so if anyone wants to add to what I just wrote please do so as I and I am sure many others would love to here your opinions and ideas...etc. as would I. We can all benefit from each others advice regardless of our level of experience. So, there you go Darren....my explanation. It is something that I would not trade for anything and I highly recommend experiencing it someday when you FEEL ready. Thanks again for the comment.

Proud New Father!

On October 20th at approximately 12:30pm one of the best days of my life has taken place. A beautiful little angel named Luna Huddleston-Maejima was born. It has been one of the most stressful weeks in my life but, seeing this beautiful little girl has made it all worth the while. I really have to show appreciation, respect and pure admiration for my wife Rie, for what she had to go through to make this all possible. She is an amazing girl. Rie went into to the operating room around 12:00pm on 10-20-04 and not once did I see her show any sign of fear or loss of goal at all. During the operation she went into mild convulsions due to some complication with the toxemia. On the very same evening the medicine they gave her to promote uteral contractions caused shock from excessive bleeding and no one knew it because all the blood was being soaked up by pads and the mattress beneath her(she was covered wit ha big futon). I notice her lips start shaking and then her whole head started shaking....and I immediately called the nurse. Suddenly 3 doctors and several nurses with all sorts of equipment rushed to the room. It may be hard to imagine but I honestly thought as well as did my mother in law that there was a chance she might not make it through it. She did though and it was horribly serious and scary. She is recovering pretty well now and things are getting much better. The doctor said if we would have waited one more day that my wife would likely have had bleeding in the brain. I would like to thank everyone who has offered their support and prayers for us.....it helped and I thank you all. Your reinforcement helped me get through some very hard days. I posted some pictures above of Luna. By the way the reason we chose the name Luna is because my wife and I felt that it's a name that can be pronounced easily and perfectly in both Japanese and English yet it has ties to neither. We didn't want Luna to feel separated by two cultures. From the best of my knowledge Luna has Latin origins and means moon. My wife and I have always been fascinated by the beauty of the moon and feel that the name is very symbolic of or daughter being able to find her way through the dark. It has already proven to be the case... I think right now I am the happiest man alive.

A bit better today

I spent most of the day at the hospital today with my wife. Her blood pressure has gone down and she was allowed to wash her hair today for the first time in 3 days. She felt a lot better. We had the opportunity to see a 3D ultrasound (let’s you see the baby inside the uterus. We also had a pre-operation briefing by my wife’s doctor. The C Section is scheduled for tomorrow morning at around noon. My wife will be given some mild sedatives around 10:00am to calm her nerves and then around 12:00 she will get an epidural. She will be awake during the operation, but will be numb from the chest down. She chose this method as she wants to be able to see our baby when she is born. Her spirits are up and I was happy about that. So, things are looking up. Hopefully by this time tomorrow I will be a father of a beautiful little angel.

Doing ok for now!

It's about 5:30 pm here in Japan and I just got back from the hospital. I was there since this morning. I will go back again a little later this evening. Luckily the Hospital is very close to my home here. My wife is still in stable condition however her blood pressure has not dropped. She got very nauseous last night and is having a hard time keeping food down. The medicne they are giving her to lower her Blood Pressure contains a lot of magnesium which not only gives her a head ache but also contributes to the nausea. It is sometimes a bit of a struggle to breathe for her but not extremely. The swelling in her legs has gone down so that is a positive sign, but the doctors are still aiming for a C section tommorow sometime. I snuck a mikan (mandarin orange) in to my wife today and I got to see her smile for the first time in a while. I think it was good for her. Well, I will get a quick nap in and then head back to the hospital. I would like to sincerely thank all of the people who left nice messages for me. I really appreciate it. I have forwarded all of those to my wife as well.

Where the mind is without fear

I was recently turned on to a man named Rabindranath Tagore whom among many things was an excellent poet. I read a poem by him which I particularly liked and that almost immediately brought to mind my feelings of my own country. I would like to share it with you, here it is.

"Where the mind is without fear"
by: Rabindranath Tagore

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

Just a quick post!

Just wanted to put up a quick post to notify everyone that I updated the Hamamatsu photo album and added an architecture album(only one pic now though)...enjoy!

Contrasts

This country I have chosen to live in never seizes to amaze me on a daily basis. There is so much ugliness and such pure beauty, so many rude and yet so many kind, so much tradition fused with so much technology. All of these mixed together have created a melting pot of love and hate that is my feelings for this place. It fills my senses completley and every day is an exciting experience whether positive or negative. And just when I feel I have had about my limit of the place, whether it be a distasteful glimpse from some wandering soul or the feeling of being pushed aside with complete disregard, something extraordinarily beautiful happens that just washes all those bad feelings away. A sweet young child smiling and saying hi or bowing and saying konichiwa, a restuarant manger going out of his way to accomidate me in way he knows only I will be able to appreciate, or a hovering flock of white cranes floating over the red sunset reflections on the lake as I walk along with my wife. I don't know if I will ever understand my relationship with this country.... and maybe I never really need to.