Fukuyama Fashion Show 2012

This past weekend, Dustin, Theo, and I participated in an outdoor fashion show in downtown Fukuyama. There were over 25 clothing stores and designers represented and over 100 models wearing everything from kimono to dresses that looked like they were made out of loops of toilet paper. We have been attending rehearsals for this show since we came back from Canada and Dustin and I both are super glad it is finally over. It was a bit bigger and crazier than we expected it would be and in retrospect we would have turned down the offer to participate.

The show was held on the Motomachi which is a shopping street very close to Fukuyama Station. There was a red carpet down the middle of the street that served as the runway and the make-up, hair, and clothing changes were all done in an office building at the head of the Motomachi.

Dustin and Theo wore kimono and walked down the runway together. Here is Theo being dressed in his kimono.

and practicing walking with Dustin

After Theo got his hair done, he needed to pose for a serious photo.

I wore two different dresses by the same designer, both of which I found rather hideous. Here I am posing with a friend of ours who is wearing an elegant old-style kimono.

The first dress I wore was this tropical bird festooned atrocity. There were even beaded parrots on the Wonder Woman-esque bodice and along the skirt. I was really something else. 

Here is the second dress that I wore. It was deer hunting meets the prom. Compared to the bird dress, I almost enjoyed wearing it, but it certainly wasn't one that I would ever pick.

If you are interested in seeing some of the other outfits and models in the show, check out this link.

Ego Garden

In December, I modeled some outfits for an Italian clothing store in Fukuyama called Ego Garden. I have never done anything like this before, so it was a really fun new experience but a bit bizarre how it all came about.

While shopping in our neighbourhood grocery store a couple of months ago, I was approached by a stranger and asked if I would be interested in modeling in a fashion show. I was a bit leery, since his English was not fantastic and I could not get really clear details about the fashion show and exactly what kind of clothes I was to be modeling. He seemed like a nice man, but the whole encounter felt a bit strange to me and I didn't want to unknowingly agree to "adult" modeling or being sacrificed to some strange god in a seedy warehouse. A few days later he emailed some info about the event and had an English speaking friend of his call me and give me some more details. Surprisingly enough, it was actually a legit fashion show without any strange catch.

A few weeks later, I went to the clothing store to have outfits chosen with the three other people who were to be modeling clothes in the show. I don't think that I actually would ever wear the clothes that were chosen for me, especially the black, sacklike dress with the bizarre fuzzy shawl and gloves, but I was ready to sneak out the back door with the brown mohair coat that I wore in my second outfit. The show went well and I was able to make a nice bit of cash considering that I only "worked" for an hour and a half.

I finally managed to get my hands on a few photos this weekend and there is also a video which I am in for about 2 seconds, so enjoy!


Being shown around the venue before the show

Having my makeup and hair done

Group photo before the show

This was just about the most unflattering and uncomfortable dress that I have ever worn. It had a loose, sacklike top that narrowed below the hips. The sleeves were narrow until the elbow and then ballooned out. The neckline was really strange as well, but at least it was covered up by the fuzzy shawl.  

I had about 1 minute to throw off the first outfit and pull on this second one. This dress was actually much better than the last, and I absolutely loved the coat. Too bad it cost over 4,000$ Canadian!

I was pretty sure that this would be the one and only time that I would do something like this, but a few days ago I was asked if I would like to be in a tourism video that Fukuyama City is making. It will be shot in Tomo-no-Ura this weekend and I have no idea what my role will be exactly. Who knows how many random things I can manage to appear in while living in Japan! 

Theo's First Week

I am not sure how it happened, but somehow in one week every bag was sewed, every last pencil and clothing article was labeled, and Theo was seen happily off to his first day in yōchien. His first day was on November 1st and the 3rd was a holiday, so he was only at kindergarten for 3 days last week. I think that the short week kept him from being too terribly overwhelmed by all of the changes.

A typical lunch that I send with Theo

It also happened that the 4th was a parent observation day which I was forced strongly encouraged to attend. It was mostly the mothers who came, but I was happy to see that there were a few dads there as well. There were about 60 parents total and we stood around the courtyard watching the daily exercise and gymnastics routine that our kids do in the morning. It was kind of sad to observe Theo's confusion first hand as he had only been there for two days. He is far too independent to just follow the other children around placidly or stand there staring into space. He was constantly darting off at top speed making for the play structures, slides, and sandbox and having to be led back by a teacher. I could tell that he was extremely bored since he didn't know what the teachers were saying, the little rhymes the kids were chanting, or the steps to the exercise routines. They were also made to stand in lines waiting for their turn to do a somersault or walk a balance beam, and his attention span just is not long enough to patiently wait for 15 kids to do a roll or flip before him. Needless to say, there were many attempted escapes to the slides and swings. At one point during the exercise routine, Theo spotted me in the crowd of parents and ran over as fast as he could, burst into tears, and said "please, I don't want to exercise anymore! They keep making me and I'm soooooo tired!". At this point he crumpled into a heap in the dirt at my feet. It was really sad, and pretty embarrassing, but for his benefit this was after at least an hour and a half of really hectic high energy music, dancing, and stretching. I am sure that after a week or two of this he will develop a bit more stamina.

kanpu masatsu

Next, the kids were allowed to go to their individual classrooms and change out of their exercise clothes, have a rigorous session of kanpu masatsu (乾布摩擦) and then dress in clean uniforms. Every student has a long, narrow towel that they bring to school each day (yes, this is one more thing that I had to sew and label). They use this towel to do kanpu masatsu, which involves rubbing the towel vigorously over their bare skin to improve circulation. I am sure it is healthy for him, but he hadn't really figured out the drill on Friday and was mostly just waving his towel around and singing. Once everyone was dressed, the teacher proceeded to take attendance. Theo thought he had this one all figured out, since every time a name was called from the attendance list, he raised his hand high and shouted "hai!". Then the giant abacus and flashcards emerged and the kids wowed me with their math and reading skills. I was impressed by their ability to count to thirty in multiples of two and count backwards from sixty. They also knew way more kanji than me and could read a simple poem in hiragana and katakana. I really had no idea that 3 year olds could do all of this!

Poor Theo seemed very confused and bored at times, but I was surprised by how much he had actually picked up after 2 days. He was able to count with the others and knew a couple of the dance routines. He actually sat at his little table with the rest of the kids and seemed mildly attentive. The teachers are great with him and seem to be giving him lots of firm but kind guidance when he gets out of line. He has made a few little friends and even got a super cute, scrawling note from a little girl in the class. At the end of each day I have asked him if he wanted to go back in the morning and each time he enthusiastically answered yes, so he can't be minding all of the changes and stress too much. I am curious to see how much he will pick up in the next few months!

A note on his name: since "th" does not really exist in Japanese, his name translates into Shiodoru. Since we call him Theo at home, the teachers decided to call him Shio. I find this kind of funny because shio is the Japanese word for salt. He absolutely loves his new nickname, and now introduces himself as Shio-chan ("chan" is a diminutive, like saying "salt child") to almost everyone he meets!

And here is a gallery of the uniforms he wears to school:

This ambiguously gendered outfit is what he wears to school each morning. It is the exercise outfit.

Here is his exercise uniform with the sunhat. Each class has an appropriately colored hat to match their class name. Since Shio is in yuri, or lily, class he gets to wear an orange hat. 

This is his normal uniform for the later part of the day and for special events. I am not really sure if both boys and girls wear the suspenders, but I am beginning to have a sneaking suspicion that it is only the girls who do...

Here is the full uniform with the jacket. Children are required to wear the little shorts even in the middle of winter. Thank goodness we no longer live in the land of skin exposure warnings and 10 minutes to frostbite or there would be a lot less Japanese children with legs!

They Might Be Giants

Dustin, though he is the smallest male in his family, is 6'2. As for me, even the germanic people from whom I am descended would consider me "schön groß", or nice and big. At 5'10, I only occasionally meet women that are taller than me, and have a hard enough time in Canada finding pants that cover my ankles and shirts that cover my midriff. I remember that while living in Cambodia as a kid I had already started wearing women's large sizes by the age of 8. In Japan, where the average height for a man and a woman is 5'7 and 5'2 respectively, we will be hard pressed to find anything that would come near fitting. Our feet are proportionately large too, and unless I take to wearing men's shoes, or Dustin binds his feet, we will need to bring a few extra pairs.

Watch out Japan!

Next weekend, Dustin and I will be driving to the U.S. to take advantage of their good prices and our fantastic exchange rate. Our mission is to purchase most of the extra clothes/shoes that we will need for at least a year in Japan. I absolutely despise clothes shopping for myself, especially when I know that my body will continue to change over the next few months in its journey back to pre-baby shape. I know that what fits now will be fairly large in 4 months, so it is a gamble trying to buy clothes for the future. I am sure that I will end up mail ordering a few more things once we are in Japan. At least I enjoy shopping for shoes and Dustin's clothes, and we will be accompanied by my in-laws, so the weekend won't be completely joyless.

We are still impatiently waiting to find out where we are going to end up, but as Manitobans we have a freakishly large hoard of sweaters, jackets, balaclavas, thermal underwear, toques, etc. to use in the unfortunate event that we are placed somewhere cold. Here's hoping we find out next week!