The Pandemic, Part 1....

It has been quite a ride!  When the covid-19 virus started swirling around China, people here in Japan seemed to show mild concern.  One heard the stories of the emergency stop switch being pulled on trains if someone sneezed, that sort of thing.  I honestly thought they would be more freaked out by it all. They are famously hypochondriac!  And the Diamond Princess was sitting just off shore here close in Yokohama, with people being fed to the virus in a classic case of epic mismanagement.  But really, although Japanese schools got cancelled, no one seemed to change their behavior much.   No cases were reported on base, and few seemed to be happening in the rest of Japan.  I think everyone was desperate to maintain normalcy for the Olympics?  It sort of seemed like no one wanted people to be tested, because no one wanted to know the results of the tests...

On base, people started to panic buy toilet paper, but nothing else seemed really to change.  Our church and church activities were among the first things to close down.  Kind of freaky!  Then a smattering of other closures, which were honestly a bit frustrating.  Because if you're not closing school, why cancel the middle school strings concert, and reading night, and other things?  I was ready for school to be canceled long before they actually did it.  I have a full year's worth of curriculum for all three girls, so I figured I was ready.  In other ways I started getting ready.  My friend Nicki mentioned a few months ago, "How is your pantry?  Are you ready if this gets bad?"  And I wasn't at all!  So I started picking up extras, and thankfully got as prepared as you easily can in a smallish sort of house.  All carried, of course, in the valiant stroller B converted into a shopping cart.  We call her Sashiko, because I name everything.

The second big change for us, after church being cancelled, was the sudden end of swim team.  Nicki and I took the girls for a private swim team, coached by Miss A, the day after that happened. 

 Here is SN and NF in front, with Miss R and AW in back.

 

 Miss A tried to corral them all, but the little girls didn't last long before they went to swim for fun.  Miss A and Miss M lasted for a pretty good workout.  Although not the hour and a half three or four days a week they were getting from swim team. 

This was all the week of March 16th.  And that week they finally called off school.  B and I took a long Friday walk way past Homes to some thrift stores I had been wanting to check out.  We thought we better take advantage of only having one girl home for one last day.  The thrift stores were fun.  B found a nice woodworking folding bench, which I carted home on my stroller.  Along with the plants and other stuff we got at Homes (which is like a Home Depot, but... louder.)  We stopped at a new sushi place for lunch, Kappa Sushi, which had orders delivered by mini Shinkansens.  Super cute!  We also passed a beautiful jade plant in bloom.  I had never seen one bloom before.

That Saturday we celebrated St. Patrick's Day.  I made the girls spend the entire day out being wild at the playground, anticipating that we would, perhaps, soon not be allowed out.  I cooked an Irish feast.  I was surprised by the girls and their friends being desperate to scrub the colcannon potatoes.  They actually lined up for the honor.  I was happy to leave them to it!

 Miss R and her friend LF made me a lovely arrangement of sakura blossoms tied onto a stick. 

 We had three adults and seven girls, and one dog, for our St. Patrick's meal of corned beef, colcannon, salad, soda bread (that disappeared very quickly), and fruit rainbows in a bowl because I was too lazy to form them into actual rainbows.  The girls watched Luck of the Irish.  Selma cleaned the floor.  Even with all the company, B was still the only male present.

That was the last week of kind of normal!