Two sides of the same coin

This past Sunday Jori and I went to a park with a bunch of her former classmates. It was like a small class reunion (and about as fun as one too). Again, it was about a million degrees in both centigrade and farenheit, beyond maximum humidity, and in the noonday sun, but did we seek shelter in the shade-no. Did people make comments about the heat-yes. I don't think Jori was even having a good time. To make things worse, none of them would speak English (though several could), which meant extra translating duty for Jori. This was compounded when there was really nothing worthy of translating. It was a small representation of her high school class, but all of them seemed to buy the consumerism bate hook, line, and sinker. Talk about dry conversation. I think it was kind of sad for Jori to see. Many of these girls had been captains of different sports teams, had high ambitions, and were outgoing, but that all seemed to have been lost now. They were all amazed that Jori was married and going to grad school (almost surprised that she wasn't in the same consumerist school of thought as they were). It was a painfully, hot wasted 3 hours of a Sunday afternoon.
Actually it was a nice contrast to the others we have met here. These others are Christians, and boy what a difference you see in their lives. Instead of this dull, boring life of buying everything in site, and looking at marriage as something to do out of obligation, these people are contented, and wanting more than the consumerist society is offering. I think it is an amazing revelation of how the void of God is filled with the things of this world and how that still leaves an emptiness. You can also see the purpose in the lives of those who have chosen God. It is awesome to see. I'm not sure if I am making complete sense here (or any sense at all for that matter), but I'll leave it as is for what it is worth.
On Monday night we hit the town for the Tanabata festival. Instead of tulips everywhere, you have giant, colorful streamers dangling from all over the sun mall. The sun mall is an enormous outdoor strip mall. The real heart of the festival are the concerts, the foods, the people, the costumes, and the general good cheer. Street vendors are crying out from their stands, with voices blending and blurring with their competitor just a few meters away. It was great fun.
Tues and Wed were mostly spent lounging around--it was great.
Yesterday we went hiking with two of Jori's friends. We drove a car to about 1 km in the mountains, then we took a ski-lift another 300 meters or so, and then hiked about 700 meters to finish just below 2 km. The trail was one of the most steep and difficult trails that was completely groomed that I have ever seen. Rocks and wooden planks were all very nicely placed for the hiker. That said, it had rained before we got there, and we were pretty much hiking in a cloud from the time we got off the ski-lift, so everything was very wet and slippery. With the steep slopes, they had placed a few rescue ropes here and there just in case anyone fell down the mountain side. We also passed a significant amount of snow heading up the mountain, and even had to traverse some snow our selves. This provided a lovely refrigerator effect for us, which was nice because we were all plenty warm from the acclivitous slopes we were ascending. It was a wonderful hike. The whole side of the mountain was covered in flowers that were in full bloom-yellow, white, purple, and everything in between. I can only imagine what it would have looked like if we would have been able to see for more than 10 meters.
Last night we went to Araisans restaurant for supper. This is about as top class as it gets in Japan. The food was one delicacy after another, all very ornately displayed. I think I had about 40 different kinds of food. Maybe about 15 different kinds of fish, some tofu, and a smattering of veggies. Wow, what a meal.