Kushi

Let me introduce our fave dish down here in the south called "Kushi". We had lots of seafood and sushi while we lived up in the north. Our appetite changed down here somehow, maybe because of the different climate.

In Kyushu, people love to eat "Kushi" a lot. Kushi comes from "Kushikatsu" and it means "meat on a stick". But it's not only meat, it can be all kinds of meat, vegetables and seefood, which is either fried or grilled. There are a lot of great Kushi-bars in our area... you can order different kinds of Kushi, which are grilled fresh infront of your eyes on coal.

We often go to a kushi-bar at the weekend, eat, have a beer and relax...

Bamboo sprouts ^^

On Sunday, we drove to our favorite Bamboo-sprout spot. You can see, looking at the kids how HUGE the bamboo here is.

That's how bamboo-sprouts look like. You need to dig them out with a shovel and you have to be careful, because they break easily.

Later we took a detour to Raizan, where we always wanted to go and discovered a lovely, ancient shrine there. The trees are old and over 1000 years old.

A really beautiful place...

On our way back, we found some more morels ^^ and Taranome.

here is the "result" of our "hunting-tour"

I prepared olive-oil/garlic/peperoni pasta with the bamboo-sprouts, Taranome and morels. Looking forward to the next weekend ^_^

Thank you Esther

Just got this 10 sentences from my wonderful friend Esther from Malaysia and I wanted to share them here, because these are things I love in Japan and these are virtues, which make me want to stay forever here. All people, who love this stupid book "Darum nerven Japaner" and actually believe the $%&@ in there, should read and respect this 10 things instead, if they REALLY want to know how Japan is.

************ LESSON TO LEARN FROM JAPAN ***********


10 THINGS TO LEARN FROM THE JAPANESE

1. THE CALM
Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. Sorrow itself has been elevated.

2. THE DIGNITY
Disciplined queues for water and groceries. Not a rough word or a crude gesture.

3. THE ABILITY
The incredible architects, for instance. Buildings swayed but didn’t fall.

4. THE GRACE
People bought only what they needed for the present, so everybody could get something.

5. THE ORDER
No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the roads. Just understanding.

6. THE SACRIFICE
Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-reactors. How will they ever be repaid?

7. THE TENDERNESS
Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The strong cared for the weak.

8. THE TRAINING
The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do. And they did just that.

9. THE MEDIA
They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. No silly reporters. Only calm reportage.

10. THE CONSCIENCE
When the power went off in a store, people put things back on the shelves and left quietly

Solance

Painted this 2 weeks ago in my art group. Done with acrylics, pen and airbrush on paper. Size is about 8x10 inches. Original is available...

I will probably paint this in a bigger size for an upcoming exhibition.

relaxing day

On Sunday we felt a little bit tired from our hikes, so we just bought some school stuff for Yumi and Yuki and did Hanami. Odo-park (小戸公園) is always crowded during Hanami time, so we decided to go to Iki-shrine instead. It's close to our home... maybe only 1km or so.

Here, the atmosphere was peaceful and quiet and we took a long walk in the pine-grove there.

When we came home, it was time to prepare dinner. Here you see Shiitake filled with minced meat and garlic-cheese (a recipe from my wonderful penpal Diana ^^).

And here you see morels on the fried minced meat. I also filled some and fried them.

and the full course on my plate ^^ Hope we can find more morels and fresh bamboo-sprouts next weekend.

Cherry blossom in Fukuoka

Please let me share some photos of the beautiful cherry blossom in Fukuoka.

 

Just again I got some e-mails and letters from friends and other people asking me if I will come to Germany again after the earthquake and tsunami. I really feel touched, because they worry so much about us, but I also feel angry and sad, that most the German media only spreads terror and fear... giving a very wrong impression of the situation here. 

The tsunami was terrible, the area where it hit will take a long time to be fixed, but 90% of Japan is not affected and people are leading their normal lifes. We grief, we are sad, but we are not paralized by fear and terror and we know that it's not the end of our country.

I will never leave Japan... even if there will be a similar catastrophe in my area. The peace I have here, the wonderful people, the shrines, the food, the nature and all of my friends and family are my soul and my heart. Without it my life would be empty. Maybe some people won't understand it, but Japan is my home and my life and the only place, where my heart is at peace.

Some people, who read this will think I'm naive and "just saying this, because I have no idea", but you can be sure, after all of my life-experience my decision to stay here forever is a very simple one (yet, I don't expect them to understand it).

Here are some photos of Aburayama, where we hiked today again.

Cherry-blossom is full finally and there were other flowes like violets, narcissus and dandelion...

We hiked about 5km and felt perfectly refreshed and tonight we will go out and have some delicious "Kushi".

Muu-chan, morels and cherry-blossom

 

First of all, let me apologize for not updating so long... I was busy with Spring-cleaning and we also got an adorable new family memeber. Our grey-parrot, named Muu-chan.

He is 5 months old and still needs me to feed him twice per day. He is such a sweet, calm and clever bird. He instantly allowed me to have him on my arm and 2 days later he let me pet him for the very first time. Actually, now he wants me to pet him non-stop ^^

Oh and that weekend, we also went to do some hanami, watch the magnolia, cherry blossoms. 

The bloom is still not full, but it feels great to enjoy the first Spring days.

One thing, which keeps us eager to hike and walk is not only the cherry-blossom, but also our annual morrel hunt. We spotted the very first ones this weekend and after checking some good spots, we had about 50 of them !!!

If you find one... there are mostly 5-6 arround... sometimes even more.

Here we tried something new... morels with bamboo-sprouts, olive oil and spring vegetabels *yummy* 

Oh and for everybody, whom I owe a letter or an e-mail, I'm working on it... so many things happened in March and the kids have Spring-break til tomorrow. I was very busy and exhausted, but I will try to answer everybody in April.

Tulips...

Painted this some weeks ago to release all the stress I had.

Done with acrylics and airbrush on paper... size is B5, original available.

Nagasaki Part 2 \ Visit at the Suwa shrine

On the next day we visited the Suwa-Shrine. It was built in 1625 and is actually 3 shrines in one, including the Suwa-shrine, the Sumiyoshi-shrine and the Morizaki-Shrine.

There are a lot of ancient holy trees there.

and you feel very peaceful there... people often ask me "what is a Shrine?" And most think it's only a place for Shintoists, worshipping the gods. I often go there to pray, but a Shrine is far more than just a place for worship. 

Shinto shrines are religios facilities, but so much more as well. They also serve as guardians of many important assets of Japanese culture and tradition. In or near a Shinto shrine, you will find not only religioes symbols, but memorials to literary and other cultural figures as well.

Therefore, shrines do not only serve only as religious places, but also as an institutional memory of the Japanese culture as a whole.

I was especially impressed by the old trees in Suwa-shrine. Here you see Yuki beside one of them... being near those trees in a shrine always gives me a feeling of peace and rest.

Photos from our trip to Nagasaki Part 1

Now that things are calming down over here, please let me share some pictures of our trip here...

We head to Nagasaki at Friday moning, but instead of taking the highway, we drove the scenic way over the mountains.

After driving over the mountains, we reached Sasebo, where we had the famous Sasebo burger.

 

The very first burger made in Japan.

And it was really delicious. I especially loved the smoked ham on it ^^

One of the most awesome spots I ever saw is Kujuku Jima, which means 99 islands (actually, there are 208). A part of the Saikai national park. Most of the islands are uninhabited and protected areas to preserve nature and wildlife there.

 

Later, we arrived in Nagasaki and went to China town.

Here you see the entrance of China town. A lot of restaurants and small and unique shops were there.

And here is the harbor... it reminded me so much of Hakodate. Many little Cafes and restaurants... and a very relaxing and mediteranian atmosphere. I want to go there again in Summer, sitting outside and have a good beer or wine.

There is a mountain there, which is so much like Hakodate yama. I want to go there, too and enjoy the nightview over the city.

Later we had Gon-Aji, a local speciality. The Aji here has a special golden color and is caught near the 5 islands close by. It tasted delicious...

Later we had some tapa and wine at the hotel and felt refreshed and relaxed. The stress we had last week  finally wore off... 

 

PEACE at last ^_____^

Off to Nagasaki

Dear friends,

Today we have our 11st Wedding anniversary and so we planned a while ago to go to Nagasaki for 2-3 days. We always wanted to go there once, because it really must be a beautiful place and we are looking so much forward to take a break from all the madness arround us.
I'm worn out and tired... After doing my housework today, I felt so tired, I could instantly fall asleep, maybe because I feel a little bit relieved today.

Since things are still looking quite good here, I will probably not post another update on the situation... so while I'm away, try to think positive, o.k ?!

Hope to be back with some good news in a few days !!!
And I'm looking forward to some mountain hikes with the kids and my hubby.

Love you all !!!
Julia

Plum blossom in Fukuoka

Still no morels and bamboo sprouts, but...

...let me share the adorable plum-blossom we just have with you instead.

Need to paint them someday, too.

Ohina Matsuri and WiP part 2

Today 3.3 is Ohina Matsuri, the Japanese festival of dolls and girls.

People build an altar/stage of dolls, normally King, Queen and servants in their houses and eat special colorful foods (Chirashi Sushi) and have sweet sake.

Here you see a Ohina Matsuri Bentou, I bought today for the kids ^^ They also got some sweets, ribbons and some other stuff. Poor Yumi needed to work on her math-homework so hard today, but she was very ambitious to finish it...

Oh and here is my "homework". My WiP I finished today. Last time I did a brown/black layer for the background trees. I continued to work on the textures on Monday.

...sprayed a layer of white airbrush over them, then added the next ground-layer of the next trees. 

One day later, I worked on the textures and again sprayed a layer of airbrush over then.

And today, I finally finished the painting.

Size is about B4... original available...

And HAPPY OHINA MATSURI ^_____^