Japanory

To The Ballet

Sunday 18^th March 2007

Today is Mothers' Day so I was treated to a lie-in, a delicious breakfast in bed made by my lovely girl (toast and marmalade), the obligatory bunch of flowers and a pretty homemade card which I will add to my collection; I've saved them all, of course.

I wish every day was Mothers' Day...

This afternoon, we have tickets to go to a special ballet performance laid on for children at the Tokyo American Club, commonly known as TAC. TAC is a member's only club which requires a lot of money to become a member, recommendations and seconded applications, then you're put onto a waiting list. We won't be joining.

It's an impressive place though, with many function rooms, a hall with a proper stage, gymnasium, an enormous swimming pool and probably a heap of other things too. No expense spared.

To say Tim is not a ballet fan would be an understatement, but he was forced to come along as an education. We took our seats ready for the performance. Tim has a 'thing' about sitting next to strangers – he doesn't like it – so he always takes the seat on the aisle if at all possible. This time, there was just one empty seat next to him so he thought he was safe.

However, just before the ballet was about to start, a vision of utter loveliness came and sat in the spare chair next to Tim: a tall, stunningly beautiful Japanese girl with luscious long hair and wearing in a micro-mini, high boots and displaying a very plunging neckline. Generously, I offered to swap seats with him, but for some reason he was perfectly happy to stay where he was in close proximity to this total stranger! He joyfully agreed he was very pleased we'd insisted he come to the ballet.

Sadly, his pretty companion left after a while and we next saw her on the stage, introducing the ballet! She was Riyo Mori, who would become Miss Universe a couple of months later.

The ballet commenced and after it had finished, the children in the audience were called up on stage to have their photos taken with the ballerinas. Rhiannon desperately wanted to be photographed with them but seemed to lose the ability to smile due to shyness!

Arrrr, ‘ere be Pirates!

Friday 16^th March 2007

Today is Pirate Day in Rhiannon's reception year.

No, I have no idea why either, but there you go.

It's a chance for her to get dressed up and have some fun.

I managed to get a cute girly outfit from EBay – she wasn't going to go "ugly", as she put it. And I am needlework-challenged, so there was no hope of me making anything.

She happily posed for photos and insisted on taking in her sword too. I do not envy the teachers there today – she's quite handy with her sword, and even though it's plastic, it packs quite a whack.

Parking is getting to be a bit of a pain at school now: the car park is regularly full of vans as there is some work going on nearby so we have to ensure we arrive early to have any chance of getting a space. The same goes for the reverse school run too.

All reception kids have to be collected in person from a small courtyard inside the school. It's mayhem. By Year 1, we can do something called "Pass" where the child comes outside the school and you can collect and drop off at the door. I dream of this day. Roll on September!

So I take her up to her classroom as usual, admiring lots of creatively dressed "pirates", and was delighted to see that the teachers had also dressed up. All the mums were gathered at the door taking photos too.

Rhiannon immediately went in and started a swordfight with one of the lads. Hah!

I beat a hasty retreat before any tears start - child's, not mine!

In the evening, Tim stomped in demanding to know how I'd pranged the car!

I hadn't, but it's got a dent and scrape in the wing so somebody obviously clipped it in the car park and I hadn't even noticed. Ah well, it's unusual to see any car here in Tokyo without a bump.

One of those Busy Days

A slightly full diary: I've been invited to coffee at one of the school mum's homes. She has lived here for nearly 20 years so I go expecting an interesting morning.

Finding her home was an education in driving and trying to understand the GPS, but I got there in the end. Some of these streets are so narrow it defies belief that a car can actually go down them. And this narrowness is compounded by the strange habit of planting the many telegraph poles about 2 feet into the road. Her residence was in a very British looking cul-de-sac and I was puzzled to see the wall bordering her house covered in lots of black plastic padding. It transpired she was unable to manoeuvre her very large SUV in and out of the driveway without scraping it so her husband had padded the walls!

It was a nice, if rather bland coffee morning, translated as no imparted gossip or scandal. This woman has a lot of fascinating things to look at, mostly crafts she's done herself; like washi paper covered books and boxes and a particularly lovely doll all dressed in a miniature kimono, all dutifully admired.

And I found my way home again too! Then to "the office" to drop the car off for Tim. But that was a scary trip. There was one huge junction that, if I took the wrong road, I'd end up on the freeway heading off to somewhere far, far away. I had no idea where I was going: one drawback of the road system here is that there are roads underground and roads high in the air with a couple of parallel roads running at ground level. At these points, the GPS gets a bit confused as all the roads are on top of each other so you have no idea if you've taken the right one because they all merge together on the digital screen. So I shot across the massive junction and at one heart-stopping moment thought I'd gone the wrong way up a ramp. Thankfully I had taken the right road and swore to myself I'd never take that route ever again. Way too scary.

All this is because my lovely hand-carved lantern and bowl is to be delivered to work ready for him to bring home tonight, so he needs the car.

However, I forgot to tell him that it came apart into three pieces: a base, the main part and a little ball to cap it off. I also neglected to remind him that they were hewn from solid granite...

Oh dear.

It took three of them just to lift the bowl, probably giving them all hernias. Then the ball fell off the top of the lantern and chipped a little. But not too badly and I console myself that it adds to the aged character of it. Tim had to bring a friend home with him to help him carry the items around the side to the garden. I couldn't resist pretending to dither about the ultimate position of these items in my tiny space, but they both swore a lot at me so I relented quickly and made some tea.

Rhiannon has gone to for a playdate; (to the same family as mentioned here Playdate from Hell .) I'm not too happy about this as there seems to be some tension between the girls, but I need to time to work and Rhiannon really needs the companionship of kids her age in order to help her settle in and learn about peer relationships. And it was offered so I'm certainly not going to turn it down. We'll see how it transpires. However, I do send Tim to collect her as I don't want to spend more time with the mother than I absolutely have to.

I still can't put my finger on why she rubs me up the wrong way, but it appears I am not alone, from what I hear from other mums.

    

Delusions of Nigella...

March 2007

I wish I could be one of those wonderful people who can happily throw a perfect meal together, look glamorous and entertain like a "grown-up". Like Nigella Lawson.

In my head, I can do it, but in real life, I just find it an appalling trial. I'm not a natural socialite and cooking just doesn't work out the way it should: but I blame this cooker which only seems to cook from the bottom up. Stuff burns on the base before the top is cooked.

Anyway, so many people have been lovely to us since our arrival, inviting us out, showing us around and entertaining us that I decide that we will have a "do" at our house.

I sent invites to loads of people, expecting about two thirds to come, but they ALL say yes! Panic immediately sets in. I try to calm myself by planning exactly what I will serve and write a shopping list. It bodes well that I actually remember to take this list to the shop, as I usually leave it behind.

Realising I didn't have enough crockery I made a quick dash to Oriental Bazaar and bought some attractive, cheap, yet beautiful dishes and plates.

Planning and preparing the menu was my personal nightmare, but for once it all went well. Some items I created in advance and froze while some I had to make in the morning. By some miracle, it all worked out well with no disasters! It would be tempting fate to repeat this. Besides, I do find it all very stressful.

For once my edible offerings were fit for human consumption! Homemade breadsticks – about 200 of them as it turned out (I sent people home with them at the end of the afternoon!), teeny savoury scones, smoked salmon and bagels, dips and chips. And the strawberries dipped in chocolate were a massive hit; so easy to do but they used up a lot of precious chocolate.

There were so many people that most had to sit on the floor or stand around the table. Everyone very kindly bought gifts – a fabulous tradition here: the first time you go to someone's house, you take a little gift. I got lots of bottles of wine, bunches of flowers and potted orchids. How delightful!

People came with children and babies. Rhiannon was in her element with a handsome older boy to play with. He's an absolute charmer and is very good with the little ones. I played with the newborns and my stress levels dropped away. I had a lovely time talking to well-travelled, intellectual people.

But I still don't think I'll do another one for some considerable time. And I am certainly no Nigella.