Obama and the Economic Crisis

Greetings all. No real adventures this week. We're just trying to get back into the right time zone and get back into a routine. Since there are no pictures to post, I thought I would write a bit about the inauguration of President Obama and then the economic crisis from a Japanese and international perspective.

I don't think Americans realize how important, exciting and hopeful the inauguration was for people around the world. The inauguration took place at 2:00 AM here in Japan, yet there were viewing parties - (not among the Americans, most of the Americans I know went to sleep) to see the speech. People were talking about the speech and Obama's intentions for the rest of the week. Many Japanese friends were asking questions about the speech and wondering what it would mean. This scene was repeated all over the world. At our school the ones who were most involved were Kiwis and Brits. It really was amazing how the world is pinning its hopes on Obama. I worry that the world is setting Obama up to be their savior. On one television interview a man was saying that only Obama can bring peace to the Middle East. These are enormous expectations and a role in which he cannot possibly succeed. I think there is a Chinese curse - "May you live in interesting times" - we certainly do live in interesting times.

I have also been asked how the economic crisis has affected life in Japan? Is my job in danger? Is the school downsizing? etc. Japan has been hit as hard as any nation with the crisis. The auto industry is laying off and closing doors. Banks are getting propped up by the government, businesses are closing and jobs are ending. To make matters worse the Japanese yen has become very, very strong reaching 40 year highs. Maybe this is because the USDollar is so weak. But this also means that the exports they have aren't making as much profit and this scares people more. However, all that being said, Japan is much less affected because the people have such vast savings. Most Japanese save about 50% of their income providing them with a huge reserve during the down times. Even if they do lose their job, they do not worry about losing their house or even drastically changing their lifestyle. For the school this means enrollment is steady, in fact, we continue to have a waiting list of students trying to get in. If worse did come to worse, math would be the last department to feel layoffs, partly because of the value Japanese place on math and partly because the math department is already a little understaffed. So, in spite of the layoffs, closings, stock market meltdowns and foreboding news things continue much as they have been. On a personal note, the strong yen has meant traveling abroad is very easy right now. From the time I arrived in August until now the yen has increased in value by 20%. So imagine getting a 20% salary increase over 5 months. Of course that could (and probably will) change but right now it's pretty good!

Anyway, all is great in Osaka. Come and see us!

Christmas 2008

(Amby in her scrubs, Kristin with her college sweatshirt and Andrew with his college t-shirt) Christmas 2008 was a homecoming of sorts. The family converged on North Carolina from all around the country and world. Karen was the first to arrive from Osaka and she was able to start getting the house ready for the rest. Next to show up was Andrew who returned from his first semester at Gordon College. Andrew has taken to college like a duck to water, with nerf gun wars between dorms, jumping off the cliffs of a quarry and touring Boston. He assures us that he is doing work and it turns out his grades were pretty good. His favorite thing about returning to North Carolina was the 70 degree temperatures. He took lots of pictures to show his friends in Massachusettes to remind them what nice weather is like. (Kristin and Karen in Pittsburgh, right before a performance.) Then Karen had a whirlwind trip to Pittsburgh to see Kristin in her first leading role in college. Kristin starred in Bus Riley is Back in Town. Kristin had a wonderful time and rave reviews. She can't wait for whatever is coming next and has more auditions in February. Karen loved it and then flew back to Cary. (Karens newest additions to her nativity set collection from around the world. The first is made from recycled coca cola cans in South Africa. The second is a bean bag type from the Phillipines.) Jeff was the next one back after a 23 hour trip from Osaka. (The kids with their grandma - "Ema") Ema (Jeff''s mom) was also supposed to arrive and she did after a 24 hour delay due to weather. Kristin closed her show and made it home on Dec. 23rd. Finally, on Christmas day night, Amberly made it back. The real world is a bit of a rude awakening and the life of a new nurse. So Amby had to work on Christmas day but then made it for three days of welcome rest and relaxation.

For Christmas this year our family had become a little disillusioned with the typical American Christmas extravagance. We had found a web site - http://www.adventconspiracy.org/ that gave us some ideas. What we did was this... First we decided we would only do one present each - so we drew secret names and searched for a special gift. Secondly, for each of the 25 days of advent we decided to donate some money. (The family all together!)The amount wasn't important, just the conscious act of giving was the important thing. The third and final piece of our Christmas was the "12 days of Christmas." We started on December 23rd and each of the five of us took 2 days to plan a family activity. Of the remaining 2 days one was spent going out to our favorite restaurant - Sushi Tsune and the other was deciding what to do with the money we saved. We chose two things one was Blood: Water - an organization committed to providing clean blood and clean water to Africa. (Enjoying a Carolina day, wearing our Japan national team soccer jerseys) You can check it out at http://www.bloodwatermission.com/. The second was the church that Kristin has found in Pittsburgh, Hot Metal Bridge Church. They currently are meeting in a bar and looking at refurbishing/expanding. We are thrilled to be able to help in a small way with that. You can see it at http://www.hotmetalbridge.com/v2/. Our events the other 10 days included arts and crafts, a hike, board games, going to a movie and frisbee golf. Then the departures started. Ema headed back to Fort Wayne - although grandma Rose (Karen's mom) came to visit from New York. (Grandma Rose with our nephew Matthew and his wife Leah). Amby had to get back to work in Boston. After a week, Grandma Rose left, then Jeff headed back to Japan. A few days later Kristin was back in Pittsburgh followed by Andrew back to Boston. Finally, more than five weeks after she arrived Karen headed out to Japan and life returned to normal - at least as normal as it gets.