2010 Fingerhut Wrap-Up

During the holidays this year, I had an intense sense of gratitude that I have not had in quite some time. The last year brought quite a bit of struggle, and the difference between where my family and I are now and where we were a year ago makes me shake my head. In the fall of 2009, we bought our first house. Not everyone who saw it would necessarily call it a fixer-upper, but at this point, after everything we did, there’s really no getting around that phrase. I had my heart and mind set on doing the work of getting our new home in good shape by myself, but had to attack this project knowing that I was not, and had never been, handy. The goal was not to simply write a check, but to participate to the fullest extent possible, and gain some knowledge in the process. As nearly every single homeowner I know has told me, you never realize what you are getting into.

Fortunately, the list of people that helped us over the last 14 months is long, and full of experience, skill, and best of all, generosity. Before this new year gets into full swing, I could not properly begin looking forward without laying out what we have gone through to get here, and acknowledging everyone that was a part of it. So I have a few posts of before, during, and after photos, and I hope I can give adequate recognition to everyone who was involved.

While our living situation occupied most of our focus in 2010, my family had a ton of other great experiences. Hiroki turned two in February, and spent the year amazing us with his development, constantly learning new words, finding new things to jump off of and crash into, and growing into and out of clothes. He was excited to learn in August that he would be a big brother!

We put off a major trip to Japan in 2010 to focus on growing our family, and right after we took a short trip to Door County, Michigan, in August, our doctor confirmed that Michiyo is due in April, 2011. Getting through the first trimester was a hard-fought, team effort, made so much easier by the helping hands (as always) of family and friends. By the time the holidays rolled around, our house was shaping up nicely along with Michiyo’s belly, and her sister Masae came over for three weeks around Thanksgiving to be our first guest. Masae loved her third trip to St. Louis, and returned home just before our ultrasound in December, which revealed our April baby will be a girl!

My parents are excited at the prospect of a fourth grandchild, and their first granddaughter. For the last two years in March, and in the fold for 2011, we have enjoyed an entire-family getaway to a cabin in the woods of Carbondale, Illinois. Last year, one big cabin was occupied by Papa Joe and Julie Mama, my sister Lynn, her husband Rob, and their 0-year old son Henry (now 16 months), my brother Mark, who jumped off a houseboat into the backyard pond (Hiroki: “Uncle Mark, jump, SPLASH!), my sister Katie, and her husband Mike. In March of this year, we will share two cabins, and be joined my Katie and Mike’s new boy, Seamus, with Michiyo hopefully hitting the last month of pregnancy in good shape.

Finally, even with house chaos and Daddy duties over the last year, I found the time to fully engage in another year of entertainment. Both Abra-Kid-Abra and Complete Music kept me busy, especially in the summer and fall months. In June and July, for several weeks, I would perform 10-15 shows during the week, then DJ two and sometimes three events on the weekends. When all was said and done, at the end of the year, I received a trophy for being the #1 requested DJ in St. Louis for 2010. I am very lucky to have so many people that want me for their wedding receptions, bar mitzvahs, and other parties; after being #1 for 2008, I finished a close second in 2009, so it was good to take back the title this year.

I get asked a lot about my job and how I make a living. The answers always involve expressing how much I love what I do, being in front of people, helping them to laugh, enjoy an occasion, and make meaningful memories. In 2011, I am excited about new developments with career opportunities, and I look forward to keeping everyone up to date.

I know that Fingerhut updates have been non-existent besides word-of-mouth in 2010; I am not making any promises, but hope to be better about posting and being online in 2011 (maybe even Facebook, who knows?). Regardless, thank you for reading and being a part of our life. I hope YOU have a great 2011! Love Joe, Michiyo, and Hiroki

P.S. Please do not leave without reading the "Thank You" post, found on the right or clicking here: Thank you!

More fun people

Michiyo keeps in touch with some of her former students at the English-speaking Jelly Bean preschool. One day in Kumamoto, we had lunch with two of them, Mina and Nana and their Moms.
Mina is on the left, Nana on the right. Nana's English is very impressive, and she won first prize in the city-wide English competition. She herself calls Michiyo when we are in town. We encouraged both of these girls, like we did so many of our friends and family in Japan, to come stay with us in America sometime. Hiroki was showing off his huge baby biceps.

Nana's Mom Kazumi, on the left, and Mina's Mom Rina, on the right, invited us out to join them at a great Chinese restaurant in downtown Kumamoto.

Can you see the cockroach on the table? I brought this fake cockroach with me, and got a LOT of mileage out of it. Nana and Mina were disgusted, but could not get enough, constantly asking me in Japanese, "Where is the Goki buri?"

Michiyo studied in Eugene, Oregon for two years, 1999-2001. One of the friends she made there was Yoko. She and her husband Koji came down to see us from Saga on the last weekend.

We had fun meeting each other and catching up. They have been married four years, and really want to have kids. They had been living in downtown Kobe, and Koji was a 'salary-man' for about 18 years. However, the goal of having kids is so important, that they uprooted their lives to live in a less stressful, more natural environment. For the last year or so, they have been studying and preparing how to run a farm. They are now living in the countryside as farmers, evaluating exactly what to grow in order to make a living. Listening to their situation and their life choices was fascinating.

Yoko's hope is to have Koji do the main work of farming, and she wants to provide a place for people to experience a homestay in the Japanese countryside. She envisions foreigners, especially kids but families too, as well as Japanese kids from city areas, living for a bit in the country. She also wants to have foreigners teach English for short periods in exchange for meals and accomodation.

They asked what I did for a living, and naturally requested to see some magic tricks. Koji really enjoyed my world-famous finger-in-the-box surprise, which countless folks in the Midwest have been shocked by.

We met Aki, a former roommate of Michiyo for tea one day.

In the same cafe, unbelievably, one of my first co-workers in Kumamoto approached me and said hello. Fukuda-sensei helped me teach English for three years at Jonan Junior High School. She is retired now, and when I asked her for her email, she said she doesn't use a computer. Oh well. It was great to see you Mrs. Fukuda! I'll have to write her a letter.

Lots of fun memories

Friends and family are always a huge focus when we are back in Kumamoto. Even if we only had an hour or two together, we always tried to take the time to re-connect.

Masako and Manami, Michiyo's former co-workers, loved Hiro!

Quick story: Michiyo finished high school, then graduated from Japanese junior college, and started working at an insurance company. These two women, Masako on the left, and Manami on the right, were two of her co-workers. Manami had kids and a family, continued working and has moved on from the insurane company. Masako and Michiyo were not happy with their jobs. They talked to each other about their dreams. Michiyo wanted to live abroad studying English, and eventually be a Mom. Michiyo ended up studying for two years in Eugene, Oregon, before returning to Kumamoto with very good English, eventually became a Fingerhut, and now lives in St. Louis, Missouri. Masako quit, and worked in a cafe for a while, then decided she wanted to open her own dessert shop. Within a few years, she OPENED UP HER OWN CAKE SHOP. She actually made the cake for our Japanese wedding on 11/20/04.

This picture was taken in 2006 when we visited. I love the name: Please cake shop

Masako and Michiyo: two girls who pursued and captured their dreams!

Michiyo's sister, Masae, works at a company in Kumamoto that provides cleaning kits for offices. She had told her co-workers about her new nephew, and they all wanted to see him, so we went by for lunch one day.

Hiroki was like a magnet in Japan. After the weekend spent in Nagasaki with Michiyo's relatives, one of Grandpa Minoru's brother's decided to visit us in Kumamoto (that's about 3 hours, one way). Uncle Hitoshi is Minoru's younger brother, and lives in Nagasaki city with his wife Yoshiko and two daughters, Mikki and Akiko. When they joined us on the orange farm two weekends before, Miki did not join them. So they wanted Miki to meet Hiro and me, plus they all wanted a little more Hiro time. Uncle Hitoshi likes to fish for squid, and every time we have a barbecue, he provides the most incredible, fresh, deluctible squid, and I always let him know I enjoy and appreciate it. I cannot believe this, but they visited us on a Saturday--Uncle Hitoshi TOOK FRIDAY OFF WORK so he could catch squid and bring it because he knew I like it. Unbelievable.

Miki (big sister, in white) and Akiko (holding Pooh-chan, the Pomeranian) are Michiyo's cousins; the last time Michioy saw them before this trip was more than 10 years ago. Akiko met Hiroki in Nagasaki, and Miki got a kick out of him on this day.

Big Lebowski, anyone (PG-13)?

Dude: You brought a Pomeranian to Kumamoto?

Walter: What do you mean, "I brought a Pomeranian to Kumamoto? He's not taking your turn, he's not eating your basashi, he's not holding your Hiroki."

Back to the blog. . .

Happy times. Who's that tall guy?

Most of my friends from JET and my time in Japan are gone. One good friend who remains is Jason Wians. He runs his own English school, teaches classes at a high school, runs his own wedding business, and has a brother who sings the blues. Jason and I spent the same three years in Kumamoto, and shared lots of good times. Jason is your prototypical, larger-than-life Texan, and Minoru LOVES him! We spent a lot of time together during this trip, and right before we left, the Wians family joined the Ishizuka's for another special dinner of Sukiyaki.
Jason married Maki last year, and they recently welcomed Randihma Ryou into the world. She is adorable, and has a Texas-size voice all ready.

Clockwise from bottom left: Keito (Maki's daughter), Satomi (Michiyo's old friend), Jason holding Randi-chan, Minoru, the Fingerhuts, Chieko, and Maki (Jason's wife).

Let's enjoy the happy time with each self!