Trip to Korea!! (YouTube)

Earlier this month we decided to take a short trip to celebrate Angie's Birthday. So, we went to the small town of Pusan, South Korea! Actually, Pusan has the population of about 5 million people. Travel books refer to it as a concrete jungle! We've never seen buildings that were built right up next to the Ocean water before. It's possible to do this in Pusan because the water is generally calm due to it's surrounding port area. Pusan has the biggest Sea Port in all of Asia. It was fun to see the different ships going in and out. Watching the cranes build or repair ships in dry docks was quite fascinating for us land dwellers! One thing we also noticed besides the port were the cars! Not only do they drive American size cars...but they drive on the right side of the road! We also saw this same thing in China. What was Japan thinking?

It was not long after we arrived at our hotel that we met some new Korean friends! Last year we met a Korean gal in Japan and through the grapevine she was able to connect us to some of her Christian friends that live in Pusan. These guys were eager to take us to visit their church and to show us around ALL of Pusan! Our plan was to take a few days to relax and be alone together. However, we were so overwhelmed by their hospitality and excitement that we couldn't say no. We're so glad we didn't say no!
Nick and I were so blessed to make new friends in the body of Christ in Korea! These Koreans truly showed the love of Christ to us! Our only hope is that one day we will meet them again to show them the same kindness.


One thing we wanted to do most in Korea was to visit a church! Christians make up about 25% of Korean population compared to Japan's less than 1%. The Korean personality is more outgoing than the average Japanese. As a result, they are more confident in evangelism! Churches in Korea are growing in number and in style. However, the church that we attended was 116 years old! It has so much history that recently they remodeled a room to hold pictures and stories of their past! We noticed that the number of members at the evening service was more than the average number of Japanese that come to our church on any given Sunday morning! It was evident to us that this church is still growing and is very alive! Pray that Christian Koreans continue their work for the Lord in Japan despite their past history.

The next day we had all to ourselves! So, we hit the beach. Our hotel was one of many that sits near Pusan's famous Haeundae Beach! As you can see, it's not the secluded kind of beach! Nevertheless, people go there for festivals, swimming, boating..ect...just not in June! Both Korea and Japan have rainy season in the month of June. You won't see many Koreans or Japanese at the beaches until August. However, it doesn't stop the foreigners! We couldn't wait to take a stroll.

What about the food!! Similar to China's cuisine, the food in Korea is hot...hot...hot! The Korean food of choice is called Kim Chi. It is cooked cabbage that is spicy hot! There are different levels of hot and spicy so you've got to be careful! Kim Chi has a strong hot taste...a strong smell...and a short shelf life. But, don't think this is the only vegetable that they add spice to!

Our Korean friend, Dr. No, loves to eat something called Kim Chi Chi Ge. It's basically spicy hot soup! You take a spoon full of rice and a spoon full of soup and it cuts down on the spicy taste. Drinking a glass of hot water helps too! Who knew?

The other suggested food to eat is Yaki Niku. We have this food in Japan, but it's originally from Korea. Basically you cook meat and vegetables on some kind of grill in a restaurant. The Japanese love to eat this meal with rice. Of course, the Koreans have their own style of eating Yaki Niku. They enjoy rolling the grilled food up in a leaf of lettuce and eating it all in one bite! And don't forget the chopsticks! Koreans have long metal chopsticks that make grabbing small grains of rice very difficult. Japanese have some kind of wooden or plastic chopstick. The Chinese have the longest chopsticks of them all!

Can you guess what this is? The picture on the far left is one of many varieties of street food that we saw. If you guessed Octopus salad, then you're right! When I saw the jars on the right I guessed that it was some kind of sea creature. This time it wasn't! It's the root of a Ginseng plant. Asians use Ginseng for many medicinal purposes. Korea is famous for it's Ginseng tea. It's not cheap...but it is delicious and works wonders!

Another great experience we had was going to Kukje Market! You can find anything at this Market, if you take the time to find it! Kukje Market is a maze of streets with stores that sell items from food to fish to clothes to backpacking equipment to electronics. It's all fairly cheap if you love to bargain. Markets like this always seem to capture the essence of a culture. Our friends in this picture will soon be moving to Dallas, Texas to attend Bible college!

We had a great time in Korea! After visiting both Korea and China we've felt the sense of "coming home" to Japan. We are truly blessed that God goes before us and knows what is best for us. So far, we've had quite the adventure!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=zuqJ2_6WVU8&feature=user

To Market..To Market!! (YouTube)

This is as close to an "open air" Market that you can get to in Japan. The name of this one is called Tanga Ichiba. As you can see, it's not exactly open on the top. All of the alley's that you find these kinds of Markets in are covered. It's great for everyone, especially during rainy season. Markets like these used to be easily found in Japan's cities. However, they are fast becoming extinct due to malls that are more popular to shop in these days. It's truly a shame because I think you can always find pieces of the culture in these places that make for a great experience.

When you find an alley Market like this, it's easy to get lost! You can find everything from produce...to fish....to shoes....to clothes...to traditional Kimono's. And it's cheap....well some of it's cheap!! The only way to truly understand what kinds of things you can buy here is to just show you AND of course for you to visit one! Don't forget to check out our Market video that we put on YouTube!

Here's a look at the produce that you can find at the Market. You'll find that most fruits are seasonal with the exception of apples. Did you know they grow citrus fruit in Japan? We actually live near a Tangerine Orchard. Every year groups of people in our little town of Okagaki make several trips to the Orchard for fruit picking!

Take a closer look at the picture below. The VERY LARGE fruit is wrapped individually and sold for a hefty price. The price tag for the apple is 700 yen, which is about $7.00 per apple! There's also a price tag for the cantaloupes with the green bows on top. This tag says 1800yen, which is about $18.00 for each melon. Don't worry, not all the fruit is this expensive! At least not the fruit we buy. Many times fruit is given as a gift in Japan...so it has to be BIG, BEAUTIFUL, and have a nice PRESENTATION! June is the season that we start to see watermelons. I just can't bring myself to buy a medium sized watermelon for $18-$20!! I'll wait til their cheap and pay about $10! I'll bet you'll never complain about fruit prices in the states again....at least you shouldn't!

Moving on to the vegetables. Most of these you can probably recognize below. However, when cooked "Japanese style" it becomes a little harder. Two vegetables that continue to amaze me are Dikon and Cabbage. I've never seen so many ways to pickle a vegetable like Dikon. And cabbage is a main side dish found with almost every meal. In fact, it takes the place of lettuce in most salads! Most Japanese are very surprised when coming to the states to find that most of our salads are made with lettuce and there's no corn in it either! Corn is more or less used as a topping in Japan and it's sure to be found on all salad and many pizzas!This is our Chinese friend Shiyu! She's great at bargaining in the Market place! Shiyu along many other Japanese like to buy more than cheap produce at Tanga Ichiba. Fish is also a hot item for sale. The picture below is a fish's head. Shiyu bought one of these in order to make fish head soup for supper. Sounds delicious, doesn't it? Or How about the little crunchy dried fish to as a snack in the next picture? Don't worry it all still tastes like fish no matter the form that you eat it!
You can find all kinds of fish at this Market and it's as fresh as it can be. In fact, they're so fresh that some of them are still alive. You have to watch out for the ones that get away. One time we saw a live Octopus making it's escape down the Market alley. It wasn't long before the owner caught up with it! Another thing that is a must see at this place is the whale meat. Yes, it's still legal to hunt whale in Japan! But, it's so expensive to buy, that I think the popularity for it is declining.....thank goodness!! Sorry, I don't have a picture of the whale meat.

And what goes better with fish than fresh clams and seaweed. Until moving to Japan, I never knew there were actually different kinds of seaweed. When the Japanese ask what kind of seaweed we have in the states, we just say one kind seaweed...AKA a weed from the sea. However, I'm sure there are more educated people on this subject than I. We don't quite have a taste for seaweed!

If you don't want fish or produce, then there is always shoes and clothing. Here we are looking at the prices of shoes with Nick's parents and our dear friends the Shiraishi's. If you can't find everyday clothes to buy, then how about a Kimono?

One of my favorite stores in Tanga Ichiba is the Kimono fabric shoes. You can choose the fabric and get a Kimono, shoes, and a matching bag made to fit! But don't be fooled, this is one store that is not cheap! All Kimono stores are expensive. Japanese usually have only one Kimono on hand. You can spend thousands of dollars or in this case yen on them. I just love window shopping! Below is a picture of the traditional Kimono for display.

We don't get to go to this Market often, but when we do it's always an interesting experience. We had fun taking both of our families there!! So now we've taken you from farms to the Market. Thanks for taking this field trip with us. We hope to show you more of our adventures in Japan.

STAY TUNED!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7-LY1avSNvA&feature=user

Strawberries in Japan!

If we are gonna talk about all this other stuff that Japan is famous for growing, then we can't leave out the delicious strawberries.
Nick and I get the privilege of living in a small town that grows a ton of strawberries. Like many things in Japan they grow the plants inside greenhouses. Consequently we have 2 strawberry seasons!! We get to eat them in the winter and the spring! But, don't be fooled into thinking you can get delicious strawberries any time you want them. If it's not during the "strawberry season", then you can't find a strawberry around. One thing is for sure, the Japanese like their fruit and vegetables fresh and HUGE!! Each berry in this picture is almost the size of your cell phone. They're not cheap either!














When Angie's parents were here we visited a grape farm for her dad. But, her mom's favorite fruit is strawberries. So, of course, we had to visit a strawberry farm for her! In fact, we visited a couple of them. Both farmers let us pick some of their prized berries and kept encouraging us to eat more and more!! I guess it's International that farmers enjoy showing off their product and watching other people enjoy them as well!!

In this farmer's case, he wanted us to show off his crop for the picture. Little did he know that his wife would give them to us as a gift afterwards. I'm not too sure how happy he was about that!
Boy they were tasty!




Both strawberry growers that we visited had their own roadside markets to sell their product. Although, like many produce in Japan, it is also sold at a local supermarket. If you can't find what you want at a supermarket, then you can take a trip to a few other open air markets that are found in the heart of many cities in Japan. But, you will find much more than things grown in the garden! Common and let's take a trip to one of these markets!!

Hydroponic Tomatoes In Japan!!

If you're wondering when this agriculture tour of Japan is going to end, then just hang on for a little while longer! On the other hand it shouldn't surprise you that we have such an interest in it because of our farming background! Hang on while we take a look at how hydroponic tomatoes are grown in Japan! Well, here's a sneak peek!

Hydroponically grown tomatoes are grown without soil inside a sterilized greenhouse. I know many are grown something like this in the states. But, I have never seen them first hand! So this was a real
treat AND yes the picture below is one giant tomato plant!!



All the plants are started from seed in a nutrient based water. The actual seed is carefully placed inside a small sponge as it germinates. The next picture is of the root system of each giant tomato plant. Each plant is less than a year old. They grow quickly and produce tons of fruit!

The plant is supported from the top where there is a trellis system in place. It is tall enough to walk underneath to do all the plant maintenance. There is no ground work here! The farmer continuously grows replacement plants. The greenhouse supports several varieties of tomato plants throughout the year. He has to keep a very good look out for disease and deal with it quickly so it doesn't spread to the rest of the plants that are in such close proximity. I must say that this greenhouse is definitely the cleanest that I've ever been in. It is also the first one that I had to take my
shoes off in!! The floor is covered with plastic as one more prevention to disease.

We've been to this farm twice. The first time we went the farmer was not completely prepared for all of our questions. Our friend had a little trouble translating as well. However, when we visited a second time both knew exactly what to say! The farm family was so surprised that foreigners took such an interest in their lively hood

So, there we were interrupting their work day. But, they were so hospitable and had a blast showing us around. This family as well as all the farms we have visited loaded us down with gifts of their crops and wouldn't let us pay them for any of it! Japanese have a thing or two to teach Americans about hospitality!!

NEXT UP....STRAWBERRIES!

Growing Grapes In Japan! (YouTube)

As I may have mentioned before, we always have the best adventures with our friends the Shiraishis. They know that we are particularly interested in the agriculture in Japan. So, on more than one occasion we have visited different kinds of farms.....grape, hydroponic tomato, strawberry, and various flower farms. When Angie's parents were here they also had the opportunity to visit the same grape farm! If you don't know, Angie's dad is a grape farmer in Northwest Arkansas. So, it was quite a treat to see how they grow them differently in Japan. This picture is all of us with the grape

farmers!

We have now been to the same grape farm three times! If you don't know anything about how grapes are grown in Northwest Arkansas, then just know that it is totally different in Japan. Many grapes in Japan are grown in greenhouses during the winter months. When the weather warms up, then the greenhouse is opened to the outside air. Remember that grapes are grown in small quantities here. The space for them is limited. So, greenhouses can be used effectively. This farm is about 10 acres.

The grapes are also grown in a canopy style. The fruit hangs from below the vine and it is tall enough to walk underneath. As you can imagine, most of the work is done by hand, even harvest. All of the grapes grown here are table grapes only. Size and quality is what matters most to the Japanese. Because of this, fruits are sold seasonally. In the US we are used to getting many fruits all year long. However, the Japanese prefer theirs fresh!

Last August we got to experience harvest time! It was a family and neighborhood event. In this picture you see Morio cutting the cluster of ripe grapes from below the vine. Notice that you can't see the grapes due to the individual bags that have been placed around each cluster. Many fruits are covered with bags for protection from insects and the rainy season that comes in the middle of summer.

After the grapes are cut, then they are off to the packing shed. Each cluster is then carefully unbagged, placed on a table for inspection, weighed, and then packaged several different ways.

Many of the farmer's neighbors are involved in this process. So we had fun meeting several new Japanese. I'm sure they thought it quite strange that a couple of Americans wanted this kind of experience in Japan!

Here is Yukiko showing a perfect grape cluster. The size of each grape is about the same as a quarter. After packaging, the grapes are taken to a very small building, owned by the farmer to be sold. As many fruits and vegetables in Japan, they may also be sold in the local supermarket. Often times we will see the local farmer's picture hung beside their produce in the story. What a great idea! We had a fun time picking, packaging, and eating the grapes!! It was also one more opportunity that we had to meet people that have never met Christian before.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CMVMy4PWkac