What are you doing New Year's Eve???

I had to share this video with you because I LOVE this song and I LOVE Zooey Deschanel!!!!!! I thought it might be nice for your listening pleasure as you read this blog entry!!!

New Years is a BIG deal here... a REALLY BIG deal!!!!!! Japan definitely wins the award for world's most holidays in a year ranging from "Culture Day," "Respect for the Aged Day," and "Health and Sports Day" among many others!!! New Years takes the cake though as it is the most important to the Japanese! There are many customs, traditions, and foods that are eaten during this special time of year here in Japan. The Japanese consider December 31 a very important day, and it is not unusual for people to stay up all night. Old customs related to the last day of the year continue in many regions of Japan, but one of the most popular is eating soba buckwheat noodles. People eat soba on December 31, either for dinner or as an evening snack, to wish for a life that’s as long as the long, skinny noodles they’re eating. Eating soba past midnight, however, is to be avoided as this is believed to bring bad luck. Good to know!!!!!

At midnight you can hear the bells from the Buddhist temples ringing 108 times... if you remember me discussing this in my blog from my Mt. Fuji trip... if not, the 108 represent the number of earthly temptations we must overcome to all reach nirvana! The bells are rung as the old year fades out and the new year enters. In Japan, sunrise on New Year’s Day is believed to have special supernatural powers, and praying to the first sunrise of the year has become a popular practice and crowds gather on mountaintops or beaches with good views of the sunrise to pray for health and family wellbeing in the new year. It is very common for people to go to the shrines and temples on New Year's Day. Many get dressed in kimono and go with their entire families. Some of the bigger shrines like the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo will get hundreds of thousands of visitors on New Years!!!

A few days after Christmas, the entrances to many Japanese homes and stores are decorated with a pine and bamboo "kadomatsu." This decoration is prepared to welcome the Shinto gods and comes from the belief that the god spirits reside in trees. The display of pine, which stays green even in winter, and bamboo, which grows quickly and is super straight, represents the desire to obtain virtue and strength to overcome adversity. I love the symbolism in everything here!!!Entrances to some of the homes are also decorated with a "shimenawa" braided straw rope. Like the kadomatsu, it signifies that the home has been purified in order to welcome the gods. After going to the temples, families head home and eat a traditional meal of foods they consider "lucky." These foods are though to bring happiness to their family. This New Year's celebration can last nearly a week and many businesses/stores are closed and most people have a few days off! Another big thing that happens on January 2nd here is the Imperial Palace in Tokyo opens up the grounds to the public... tempting as it is to go, the thought of the crowd makes me cringe. On this day the Emperor and Empress and the Royal family make an appearance which is a HUGE deal and obviously draws quite a crowd. They come out of the palace and receive the New Year greeting from the people. Maybe next year I'll be brave enough to go check it out...

Tentative NYE plans: Tokyo bound!!!! Stay tuned for the next chapter: NYE Tokyo: Unleashed! hahaha

Japanese Phrase of the Day:
akemashite o-medetō-gozaimasu (ah-kay-mosh-tay o-med-etto go-zai-moss): Happy New Year!!!!!!!

Low Key Kind of Christmas

Damian had the flu the week before Christmas and over the holiday weekend so it was pretty easy to make plans... stay home and hang out on the couch! He was feeling a little better on Christmas night so we did go to a friend's place for dinner which was really nice! He is slowly getting better but it takes time, yesterday we went for a walk to get some fresh air and that wiped him out but he did go to work this AM. We were able to skype and call a lot of our family and friends all over the U.S. at some point during the weekend which was really nice and brought a little bit of home here to Japan. We also had lots of little goodies to open under the tree which made it feel like Christmas morning!

Tonight is the last night of Chanukah... can't believe this year is almost over!!! New Year's Eve is still up in the air... we are waiting to see how Damian is feeling and if I get sick after spending an entire week around him while he has been sick. Hopefully my awesome immune system will kick this flu's butt and I stay healthy so I can go out and ring in the New Year!!!

This upcoming year should be interesting.. I'm hoping for a job (as a substitute teacher or at the hospital) or to at least start volunteering to keep myself busy! Hopefully Damian and I will be able to do some more traveling both here in Japan and around Asia so we can cross some more places and things off our list! He'll be busy on the ship and going to some training courses in the U.S. and then we will be looking at another deployment (and hopefully me heading home for a few months)...

For those of you who I told about the Japanese government offering 10,000 free flights to come visit... the government did NOT approve the budget for the flights so start saving that $$$$ if you want to come visit! We were really hoping for this to work out to get a few of our friends over here to visit as most of you know the ticket prices are absolutely astronomical! It's a total bummer that it costs so much to get here because while we are here it is such an awesome chance for people to come visit and we can show them around and they can stay with us for FREE! Here's hoping for ticket prices to go down in 2012!!!

Japanese Phrase of the Day:
Kekko dess, arigato (kay-ko dess ari-got-to): No, thank you

Happy Chanukkah!

It's that time of year again... Damian and I have lit the menorah each night, but unfortunately we have both been sick so I haven't quite had the energy for making latkes (potato pancakes) and applesauce yet this year... maybe tonight although we are attending a Chanukkah party at the Chapel of Hope on base tomorrow night and there will be latkes there so I don't know if Damian can handle 2 nights of latkes in a row... I sure can... they're my FAVORITE!!! I bought Chanukkah flowers the other day... they are just random flowers that have been dyed bright blue, but they look nice next to our menorah! We also have a cute little poinsettia right next to our fake tree although the pine scented candle makes it seem a little more real.

Not much going on here this week... pretty quiet actually. Damian has been back to work this week although he was home sick yesterday... I can't believe Christmas is just a few days away... it really came out of nowhere this year! I am missing being home for the holidays but thank goodness for skype that helps us stay connected! It is crazy to look back at our year and think of EVERYTHING we have done in just a years time... Last year at Christmas we weren't even engaged yet... that was the day AFTER Christmas when we were exploring San Francisco and since then we have had a crazy little year... We got married in March in Hawaii... finished up our last semester of Grad school and graduated with our Masters' in May, had 2 wedding receptions in June, one on the East coast and one on the West, Damian left for Japan/deployment in June and I spent the summer hanging in NE studying for my boards, then I moved to Japan in August and then Damian got deployed again, we traveled in Singapore and Hog Kong together and Damian got to see Thailand and South Korea, then homecoming in November and our first Thanksgiving/Chanukkah/Christmas as a married couple and in Japan!!!!! Phew.... that's exhausting just thinking about this past year!

Thanks to my Dad and Sue for the personalized holiday M&M's!!! Love it! Happy holidays to everyone, Happy Chanukkah, Merry Christmas, and a very Happy New Year to all our friends and family all over the world!

Japanese Phrase of the Day:
Nihongo hanasemasen (nee-hon-go hah-nah-say-mah-sen): I can't speak Japanese

Monkeying Around

Yesterday, Damian and I went on a bus tour from the base to Nagano prefecture (state) which is about 4-5 hours away. Nagano, Japan should sound familiar to you as it is the home of the 1998 Winter Olympic Games! (* fun fact alert: Nagano has been the southernmost host of the Winter Olympic Games!) It is absolutely beautiful and a very popular area for skiing/snowboarding! Nagano is located in the Japanese Alps and is in the middle area of the main island of Japan. Our first stop on this tour was Matsumoto Castle as seen in the picture. One thing that you notice right away when looking at this castle was that it is made of wood as opposed to other castles in the world that are mainly made of stone. The castle originates back to 1504 and is designated as a national treasure of Japan and one of the most beautiful castles of Japan. This castle is also known as "crow castle" because of it's black exterior! Matsumoto castle has all the elements of a good and strong castle... a mote, a bridge, and many gates. Inside the castle there were holes in the walls that were different sizes... these are called tazama or teppozama and were used for firing arrows or muskets when under attack! There were also hidden areas where they could drop rocks on anyone trying to scale the castle walls. It was all set up very cleverly! The castle was absolutely freezing... even Damian was pretty cold! Back in the day when the castle was being used, they didn't have an fires inside because it is made of wood so they just had to put layers on. With all of the windows and weapon windows the castle is very open and the cold air comes right inside... I certainly wouldn't have survived during this period!!! We had to take our shoes off when getting there and then we carried them around with us while wearing these slippers that were way too wide and big for any female feet and way too small for any male feet! I felt like I was shuffling throughout the castle in my grandpa's stretched out slippers! The slippers made the stairways a little difficult to navigate. The stairs for each floor were located in a different area on each floor and all strategically placed. The stairways were at 50-60 degree angles (more like a ladder than a staircase)! Considering this castle is 500 years old it is in remarkable shape and has been preserved very well.

Next we stopped for a quick lunch at a rest stop. Nagano prefecture is famous for its apples so of course we bought a BIG bag of delicious apples and some apple kit kats (yes I said apple) and some other yummy apple snacks too! *Sidenote: Japan has super crazy kit kat flavors... green tea, wasabi, blueberry cheesecake, banana, cookies and cream, strawberry cheesecake, apple, chile pepper, etc... After lunch we bundled up even more as we kept heading more north into the mountains. Next stop was into the Jigoku-dani valley to go to the Snow Monkey Park! At this point we were about a 3000 foot elevation to give you an idea and the day before we went they had just received about 6 inches of fresh snow! Once we arrived at the parking lot in the bus we had about a 40 minute hike ahead of us... they had warned us the trail may be snow covered or muddy but I wasn't really expecting it to be icy! The first part was the worst because it was sort of steep and ice covered... I had a nice little fall right onto my wrists (ouch) but at least I got it out of the way early on... after that is wasn't too bad and more just slush and snow! It was actually a really nice hike, a few steep parts, but our group got pretty spread out and for awhile there was no one else around and it was very peaceful! Snow covers the ground in this part of Japan about 1/3 out of every year. Once we got closer to the actual "snow monkey park" there were monkeys all over the place!

The real name of the snow monkeys are Japanese Macaques! They are native to Japan and are distinguished by their grey fur and red faces. You may have seen them on a special done by National Geographic last year! In this particular snow monkey park there are about 200 monkeys! These monkeys are omnivores and eat insects, plants, soil... and when there are no plants to be found they will dig under the snow to get to the roots of plants. These are very intelligent animals! They have a slightly higher body temperature than us at around 102 degrees Fahrenheit... kind of like having a fever all the time.. although it was pretty cold there so it probably feels nice! The monkeys faces get redder as they are warmer so as you can see the monkeys in the hot springs have redder faces than the ones climbing around outside. They were all just hanging out in the hot springs, grooming each other and staring at us. They can be aggressive creatures and you are warned not to look into their eyes... I kept my sunglasses on just to be on the safe side... then I could totally stare at them! It was surprising how close we could get to them without even spooking them at all. At one point Damian and I were standing next to each other... like maybe a foot away from each other and a pretty big monkey walked right in between us like we weren't even there! There were also a lot of baby monkeys climbing around and hitching rides on their mother's back! It was definitely worth the long bus ride and getting up before dawn to head up to Nagano. We had a great day together on this adventure!

Japanese Word of the Day:
Saru (saw-roo): Monkey

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like... Chrismukkah...

EVERYWHERE you go.... Damian and I took a trip up to Yokohama last night to check out the lights and to see a Christmas tree I found online that does a light show. We were very surprised to see how much they decorate here for the holidays considering only a small percentage of Japanese actually celebrate Christmas. Most Japanese are either Shinto or Buddhists however they have really taken to the way we celebrate Christmas in the western world... Lights, trees, and even signs that say "Merry Christmas." I was really impressed with how beautiful and intricate many of the decorations were at the malls we went to!
*unfortunately this is not our video because we couldn't get it to load but this is exactly what we saw...
The Christmas tree we went to see in Yokohama was at Queens Square, which is just a big mall! This year the tree was dedicated to the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami from March of this year. The star at the top represents courage and hope, and all the other little lights represent the prayers of people. Each hour during the evening they do a light show with all the lights and music together. I thought it was pretty awesome... I even tried to convince Damian to stay for another hour so we could watch it again, but he said we could watch this video we took if I really wanted to see it again! hahaha

We walked around for awhile and had dinner at a restaurant at the mall which was really good! We took the train back, and it seemed to be full of drunk businessmen on their way home... kind of funny, but the train was packed and hot so the smell of booze was a little too much! Today we got up early and FINALLY mailed almost all of our holiday packages... the cost of shipping all of these was sort of ridiculous, but that's how it is when you live overseas! We went to the gym and have just been having a leisurely afternoon since then. I'm enjoying Damian being on leave and being home with me all day. This weekend we are going up to Nagano to see the snow monkeys which we are super excited about!

Japanese Word of the Day:
Koneko (co-nee-co): Kitten (*Cat is just 'neko')

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Happy/Merry Chrismukkah... I'm finally getting into the holiday spirit as the holidays get a little bit closer... I was feeling like a grinch because everyone else was already so into it, but I realized it's just not normal to be that spirited so close to Thanksgiving... I like to wait until it is actually the holiday season! As you can see to the left, Damian and I put up a mini-Chrismukkah tree in our apartment. All of our holiday decorations are safely tucked away in our Navy storage in San Diego so we had to start from scratch for this year... For less than $80 at the exchange we were able to get a tree, ornaments, lights, and stockings! Our ornament for this year is a Santa Claus with an American flag that is saluting and it says U.S. Navy... very appropriate for this year. We also picked up an "Aloha" ornament to represent our Hawaiian wedding/elopement! Our tree is fake, which is great because we can use it again next year and we have been burning pine scented candles and when you walk in, it almost smells like we have a real holiday tree!!! The only thing missing is a fireplace... the other day I found one of those fireplace videos on youtube (with real crackling sounds and all) and when Damian walked in I had it all cued up next to the tree so that it looked like we had a small fire going... pretty funny!!!

Not much new here in the far east... Damian is on leave this week which is probably why I haven't blogged in a week... I've been soaking up every last minute with him even if we are just sitting on the couch watching movies! We finally just finished addressing all of our holiday cards and finishing up last minute gifts for packages... unfortunately because we live in Japan... everyone will most likely be getting these after Christmas because the post office here is completely out of control right now... lines out the door, no parking, pushy grumpy people... pretty much the same as at home except here half of the people are in uniform and the other half are pushing baby carriages! I was lucky enough to skype with my BEST and oldest tomodachi's in NYC the other day... funny but we all just happened to have reindeer ears on! hahaha This holiday season will be tough without friends/family but hopefully we will keep busy. I'm not sure what we are doing yet for Chistmas or New Years, but we are going to a Chanukkah party at the temple next week which should be fun! Later this week we are going to head up to Yokohama or Tokyo to see some holiday lights/decorations!

The other day Damian and I went out in town on a serious search for Sparkling Apple Chu-hi's... our new favorite... they are seasonal and they are so oishii! If you have ever had Martinelli's apple cider you understand what these chu-hi's taste like... amazing! You don't even taste any alcohol in them which I suppose could be very dangerous! We bought 2 cases! We also bought some more sake... the cloudy/milky looking one (thanks Amber for the suggestion)... the one we bought is kept chilled and is a peach flavor... we are actually sharing some right now! It is very good, but again very dangerous because it tastes like peach juice... like a more subtle peach schnapps! This is a picture of our dinner tonight... we're having... (surprise surprise)... Japanese food!!!! We bought some inari (sweet tofu wrapped around rice) at the store the other day, and I made miso soup with tofu and put udon noodles in it and then of course some white rice on the side... AND chu-hi's!

This is a video my friend posted on Facebook the other day and I think everyone should watch it... it is absolutely amazing and Damian and I really enjoyed watching it!!! Awesome tribute to the armed forces!!!!!

Japanese Word of the Day:
Douitashimashite (doe-ee-ta-she-mosh-tay): Your Welcome (this is a tough one... I'm sure a smile would go a long way too)

Today Was a Great Day

I had an absolutely fantastic day today! One of my friends invited me on a hike around Kamakura, Japan, that is guided by Japanese volunteers and done every other month! I had NO idea what to expect but didn't have much else on my planner for today so I agreed to go. Yesterday was a really nasty, cold, rainy day but today the sun was shining and it was a little brisk but all in all a pretty perfect day for December 7th! It was so wonderful to be out in the fresh air all day and soak in all that nature! Kamakura is just a short train ride away from the base with a few transfers and a short walk. We met the whole group (about 12 of us + the guides) around 1000 this AM and then started on our way. The foliage around us was all so beautiful and I don't think the pictures even do it justice! I kept seeing really pretty red trees and then realized it looked just like the Japanese Maple I had in my front yard when I was growing up. I commented to one of the other women on the tour that I thought it was a Japanese Maple and she told me that here they call it just a Maple tree.... (pause for laughter).... I guess I didn't think of that.... HAHAHAHA I'm still laughing about it 8 hours later sitting on the couch blogging while Damian plays video games. I told him about it when I got home and he thought it was pretty funny too!

The first temple we stopped at on our hike was the Tokei-ji Temple and is also known as the "divorce temple." This temple was very interesting and was also founded by a woman. During the time it was founded, women were not allowed to cut marital ties without a letter of divorce from their husbands. This temple was used as an asylum for women to escape to while divorcing their husbands as asking for a divorce could lead to physical abuse and an unpleasant living situation. Eventually when it no longer became necessary for the women to get a letter from their husband for a divorce this temple became a Zen temple as it is today. It is very beautiful and is surrounded by plum blossoms and other blooming trees and flowers. This picture was just an example of one of the funny names of the cars here that I happened upon on our hike today... this was a Honda and obviously ready for success!

We hiked for awhile through beautiful (but muddy because of the rain yesterday) trails all through the forest and came out near Kuzuharagaoka Park. At this park was an area with a big rock, a stack full of clay dishes, and all around the rock were broken dishes... I had never seen anything like this and was obviously intrigued (it really doesn't take much)! It was a "Masaruishi" which if you break it down: ma: negative factors in life, saru: leave/depart, and ishi: rock... so throwing the dish at the rock symbolizes the overcoming of obstacles in your life. Negativity in life disrupts the flow of life energy so by throwing the dish against the rock you are breaking the negativity and allowing the positive energy to flow... and all for only 100 Yen (about $1.30). It was shockingly fun to break a dish against a rock... don't worry Damian I won't be throwing dishes at home when my life energy is disturbed.

You could see Mt Fuji (barely) from the park on our hike today... of course there was a sign that said "Mt Fuji viewing point" or else we would have missed it (and so would you if I didn't add the arrow)! You can see Mt Fuji from the base on a clear day, but not from our apartment so sometimes I forget to look for it when I am out and about. When my Mom lived in Seattle she used to tell me "the mountain is out today" and she of course was talking about Mt Rainier, but I am going to steal it and tell you that not only was the sun out today but so was "the" mountain! The hike was a lot of up and down and even though there was a trail it wasn't completely cleared and you really had to watch your step because of all the tree roots and of course the slippery mud and wet leaves.

Next stop on this awesome hike was the Zeniarai Benzaiten Shrine (don't worry I can't say it either)... also known as the "money washing shrine." Legend has it that than person who constructed the shrine received a message in his dreams saying "use the water here to offer prayers to god, and all the world will be at peace." Later it is said that he washed money with this spring water and prayed for the prosperity of his family. Word got out that if you wash your money here your money might be doubled, and since the year 1257 people have been coming here hoping to get rich. So, now you go to this shrine and wash your money and then you are supposed to get financial success... I emptied my whole darn wallet into the basket (not the paper money though)!!!!! Anyway, this was one of the coolest shrines I have been to and cannot wait to take Damian to see it. It is literally in a cave!!! How cool is that?!?! You walk through a cave tunnel to get into this beautiful serene shrine and then in the back is where you do the money washing and it is in a cave.... prettiest cave I have ever seen. So, basically I put my money into the basket and then used one of the ladles to wash the money by pouring the water over the money... at the end all I had was really cold and wet money, but then I went and spent some of it because I was hoping that would help me get rich (I bought cool candies). ***Fun fact alert: "zeni" means "coin" and "arai" means "washing" which is where the name "Zeniarai" came from for this shrine.

On a completely other note, my wonderful husband Damian is now a licensed driver here in Japan, and I can't wait for him to take me for a ride, or be my DD, or be my personal chauffeur... hehehe! AND just in case all of you were all wondering he put his windshield wipers on during his driving test instead of his blinker too.... so it's not just me! Now that I have been driving here on the other side of the road for a few months, it will be really weird to come home and drive... watch out world I drive on BOTH sides of the road... yikes!!!

Japanese Word of the Day:
Dai (die): Big

Home Is Where the Heart Is

Have I mentioned how nice it has been to have Damian home??? I think I may have mentioned it a time or two, but it really really is. I take joy in the little things we do together and really am appreciating all the time we are able to spend together! Last week we made a quick walking trip out in town and got some fresh fruits/veggies and also stopped at the 7-11 right outside of the gate to get some chu-hi's... I know I swore I would never again drink one but this flavor interested me greatly! It was a sparkling chardonnay chu-hi!!!!! AND it was so delicious! Damian and I sat out on our patio (it wasn't too cold) and had our chu-hi's and dinner and enjoyed a nice quiet night! This past weekend was nice, we went to a birthday party on Saturday at our friends place and it was a good time... I brought a quinoa salad and some sushi I made as I feel that I have mastered it enough to actually share with the world now! It was a hit!

Yesterday, Damian and I had a little outing in town and did some grocery shopping and some home and holiday shopping as well. He doesn't have his license yet, but passed the written exam and will take the driving test this week.... yeah!!!!I can't wait and then he can drive me around... although I will probably still be driving him to work everyday so I can have the car... Anyway, we didn't go too far, just out in town, but it was only my second time driving off base... mostly because I am terrified to drive out there by myself because I need a navigator and someone there for moral support! We stopped at lots of different stores and had a good time exploring together. We had fun just wandering around the stores and checking out what they had... Damian spent awhile in the rice cooker section admiring the fine craftsmanship of these technologically advanced rice cookers! We decided that our rice cooker is still making pretty good rice so we will wait to get a fancy one for now!

As Damian was admiring the rice cookers, I found myself standing in an aisle full of sake... shocker?!?! It was amazing.. these bottle were so HUGE!!! We have been here for a few months and haven't once had sake... seriously! We decided we would buy a bottle and try it out... we had NO idea where to begin... we sort of decided on a bottle for price and because we liked the label... I have no idea how else to buy sake when the labels are all in Japanese and we have no idea what any of them say... I guess we will just have to use trial and error while picking out sake!

One purchase we made on our outing yesterday was a noren... A noren is a traditonal Japanese fabric divider used as room dividers, hung in doorways, on walls, or in windows. They have vertical slits in them so you can walk through and have multiple purposes. They come in many different sizes and colors/patterns. Often restaurants and shops hang them in their doorways to protect from sun, wind, dust into their establishments. They put them out to show they are open and at the end of the day take them down. Many Japanese have them in their homes and use them to divide rooms or in doorways to help to hold the heat or cool in the room. Some of them are thick and have beautiful traditional Japanese designs on them We opted for a simple design in a neutral color and we put it on our side door of our kitchen.... I love it! It is perfect there and it's kind of fun to pop out of the curtain sometimes... although this novelty may fade in time...

Japanese Word of the Day:
Mise (me-say): Store

Navy Fun

Not too much going on these days here in Yokosuka. Damian is busy taking his week long orientation class (even though he has been here for 6 months)... the class is mandatory if you want to get your Japanese Driver's License so he has to sit through a week of lectures about all the same stuff I have already told him about! I know it's frustrating for him, especially because the rest of the ship has the week off to spend with their families/friends, and he is at class all day everyday... but he's almost done and then he can take his driver's test and then he can drive ME around!

As for all the Red Cross/Job/Volunteer stuff... I'm still pretty much at a standstill waiting for someone to get going on my stuff. Since I am only a volunteer at the hospital I am not a priority and will be the last person to receive my credentialing "go ahead." So... I wait! I have also applied to be a substitute teacher here on base... there are 3 schools and in desperate need of substitutes as teachers are often sick and taking their days off. They pay $101/day and they call you when they need you... I have NO desire to teach, but a paying job right now is something I do need! The background check process for this is also extremely elaborate and because the Department of Defense Education system is different than the main DoD, I have to repeat the fingerprinting and all the fun paperwork!!!! Hopefully I will be able to start within the next month or two! It will be something to occupy my days!

I found LOTS of funny things in the on base newspaper this week and I thought I would share them here... In one of my very first blogs from Japan I talked about the Seahawks and how aggressive they are on base and how you have to be careful about eating outside because they will swoop down and swipe your food. Apparently this is not just a friendly warning, but a real issue that they have to post an ad like this in the weekly newspaper to remind people of these aggressive birds of prey! From our apartment on the 8th floor we can see them flying around all day and they are pretty loud. Some of you have even heard them in the background when we are chatting if the patio door is open.

Next funny advertisement in this weeks newspaper was this one about the foul language... it's no joke... These guys get off the ship from being at sea for six months or so and now I completely understand where the term "mouth like a sailor" came from! Some of these things that come out of their mouths are pretty ridiculous... The need for this ad is pretty funny though... I LOVE the common sense flyers that I see around everywhere... ugh! There are children everywhere on this base and although they have probably heard most of these things it is still important to keep it G-rated when out in public places or around the "quad." haha

This is the last one I will post for this week... A little background on "don't be that guy/girl" is that the Navy uses this on TV, radio, and all over print to try and keep anyone from getting into trouble. I think they are absolutely hilarious. They try and take "real" situations like sailors going out and having too much to drink or being obnoxious or culturally insensitive and they do these re-enactments over the radio or as commercials to try to deter people from being "that guy/girl." I think people think it's more funny than anything- not really sure if people take it seriously... actually I am 100% sure people don't take it seriously as people are getting in trouble constantly off base for doing stupid things! Anyway, I just wanted to share these bits of humor I find in day to day life here at Yokosuka Naval Base.

Japanese Word of the Day:
Utsukushii (oots-cooshee): Beautiful

It's a Wonderful Life

It is so AMAZING to have Damian home in Japan with me... I almost like living on the other side of the world now! We had a nice Thanksgiving together with some of Damian's shipmates and their families. We had a potluck and everything was oishii! The deep fried turkey smelled pretty good to me, but I left the tasting up to the carnivores of the group! There were about 12 of us at Thanksgiving and it was nice to have a big group get together... most of us are used to big families at home so this helped to fill the void of our families for the day! It was a wonderful first Thanksgiving as a married couple!

Black Friday was an absolute ZOO here... I'm typically NOT a crazy black friday shopper, but we wanted to get some furniture for our apartment at the furniture store on base because it was so much cheaper. Apparently people were lined up starting at 10pm the night before... well that certainly was not going to happen! We got up and headed out around 0800 and only had to wait in line to pay for about an hour... totally worth it too.... we got a new TV stand and a funky bookshelf we have been eyeing since we got here! The line in the electronics department of the exchange was completely ridiculous... at least a 2-3 hour wait to pay... not worth it! We spent our day putting our new furniture together, napping, hitting the gym, and finally a $1 movie.... Moneyball (which I highly recommend!).

Today (Sunday) we went to a Japan Festival right outside of the base in Yokosuka! It is sponsored by Yokosuka City and the Yokosuka International Association and it is a great way to get acquainted with Japanese culture!It was free admission and some of the things cost extra but there was a ton of things to check out! It was run by volunteers from the community... many of them over the age of 100 (this is a guess but most were elders of the community). They really took joy in teaching us about their culture. There were many stations where you could sit down and try stuff out such as Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging), calligraphy, origami (Japanese paper folding), handmade toys, and other games. One of the highlights of our day was at the Kendama area. Kendama is a traditional Japanese toy that is similar to the cup-and-ball game. One of the volunteers took a special interest in teaching Damian and I many of the Kendama tricks... he was somewhat of a Kendama master! We each were able to complete 5 of the tricks and received a certificate of merit in Japanese! We spent about 30 minutes at this area as both of us are pretty competitive and were unable to allow the other to do a trick without mastering it ourselves...

I was able to try on an uchikake which is a traditional Japanese wedding gown. It was heavy as all heck!!!! These two women got me all suited up in it and then Damian got this picture! The uchikake is an outer robe made of fine silk, it can be white or brightly colored. All of the embroidery is done by hand, and is extremely impressive up close... a lot is done in gold and silver thread. Images that are often found on the uchikake include cranes, turtles, pines, cherry-blossoms, and chrysanthemums as these are ALL symbols of happiness and good fortune. One thing I absolutely LOVE about Japanese culture is that everything has some sort of symbolism attached to it which makes everything a little more meaningful.

Damian and I arrived at the festival pretty early before it got too crowded and when we stepped into one of the rooms, a volunteer grabbed Damian and was so excited to dress him up as a Samurai. I was pretty excited too, it was pretty neat watching them put all the handmade armor on him- great picture opportunity! They had real samurai swords there as well and we were able to hold them I didn't realize how heavy one of those swords were until I held one for a minute. I thought Damian would have made an excellent samurai back in the day!

The BIG reason we went to this festival was to dress in Kimono. As many of you are aware, Kimono is the traditional Japanese garment worn by men, women and children alike. They had many Kimonos of all sizes to try on, we actually had to wait about an hour until we were able to get dressed up. The Kimono dressing was 500 Yen.... an absolute bargain!!!! That's only about $7 to get all decked out in Kimono and walk around and take pictures. The word Kimono literally means "thing to wear" and the sash worn around the middle that secures them is called an "obi." They are all so beautiful but until today I had NO idea how intense these robes are to put on. I had 3-4 women helping me put my kimono and obi on and it took about 30 minutes... The obi is similar to an outside the clothes corset and had about 7 different layers of ties. They pulled me so tight I had a hard time taking a really deep breath. After they had me all done up, I was pretty sure my scoliosis was cured... I have never stood so straight and tall in my life! There are 15+ different parts of a kimono... I'm not going to explain them all here, but just understand it is a lot more complicated than it looks. A woman's kimono can cost as much as $10,000 USD with all these parts, plus the special socks and sandals on top of all of it. In the picture I have a long sleeve kimono on, but traditionally since I am a married woman I would have a short sleeve kimono on... obviously so I could do the dishes, cooking, and other cleaning without getting my sleeves dirty.... haha BRILLIANT!

After the festival we went out to a sushi-go-round restaurant for lunch and then a quick stop at the 100 Yen store before heading home for the day!

Japanese Word of the Day:
Otto (o-toe): Husband

Welcome Home GW

Welcome home George Washington! The forward deployed aircraft carrier USS George Washington returned to it's home port of Yokosuka, Japan, yesterday morning after a very long year of deployments. The ship was due back at the pier around 11 AM, which means I headed over to my friend's place right on the water to keep a look out for them around 8 AM. From Kate's place on the 9th floor right on the water you can see the GW enter the channel while it is still about an hour out from getting to the pier. At first we heard the helicopter and knew the ship must be close! It was really awesome to see it get closer and closer, and as it did we could see the sailors manning the rails-- which was pretty awesome!

After they were out of our sight we drove down to the pier and arrived just in time to watch the ship back in... .that's pretty wild to watch a ship that big back up into a spot. As it was backing up I spotted Damian up in the "bridge" (that middle high section of the ship)... even from faraway he looked so handsome. Once the ship gets there it is a long process to get the brows in place, and the anchor dropped, and everything all set up for them to get off. About an hour later Damian got off the ship and even though I have seen him a few times in the last few months in different ports, it felt different because he was HOME! AND I had never seen him in his dress blues before and he had lots of new chest candy to show me!!!!

It was great to see him and to finally get to show him our apartment. We had a very relaxing afternoon and just hung out at home and watched movies and spent some time together. Today he had to go into work for a little bit and tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Damian and I are going to do some cooking in the morning together and then we are heading to a friends house for a potluck Thanksgiving dinner! This year I am thankful for so many things, but mostly that my husband is back home, safe and sound. Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Japanese Word of the Day:
Hōmupēji (home-ew-peh-gee): Home

Other Side of the World

*Picture of the USS GW pulling out of Hong Kong last week... thought it was pretty awesome and wanted to share it.*

I am on the complete other side of the world than all my family and friends... is is very apparent how far away I am when I watch the nightly news with Brian Williams at 8 AM and I have to wait to watch the TODAY show with Matt Lauer until 9 PM each night! At least I am getting my news, but it is still a little strange! When they cut to the local news I get to watch the latest Pentagon Report... woooohoooo for living on a military installation! I am more informed about what is going on in the military ALL over the world than I ever wanted to be... now I keep Damian informed!

The good news is they are finally going to turn our heat on next week... Since I have been back from Hong Kong we have had some chilly nights and morning where temperatures have been in the 40's... but it's not like I am actually in control of my heat so until they turn it on, I will freeze each night! The crazy thing is that they turn the heat in family housing on, but the schools have to wait another week... that doesn't make any sense to me! Today I am thankful for sweatpants, sweatshirts, and UGG slippers!

Not much going on here since I got back from Hong Kong, back to my daily routine of watching TV and going to the Post Office... Yesterday I met with the Red Cross Coordinator at the hospital and basically learned even though I have a security clearance they haven't verified that I am an actual Nurse yet so I can't start volunteering just yet! Really?!?! I did get my picture taken for my badge... of course on a day when I was under the weather! So for now I just wait!

Japanese Phrase of the Day:
Samui desu (sah-moo-eee des): I'm cold

Hong Kong Day 5: Kowloon and Good-byes

The last day in Hong Kong we slept in as we had to check out of our hotel around noon and were taking a red eye. We got a late start but we took the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbor to Kowloon and Tsimshatsui which is a major shopping destination for tourists! The ferry ride across was nice and another great way to see the city! It was a short 10 minute ride across and then we were on the Kowloon side which was pretty crazy since it was a Sunday and people were everywhere... and super pushy too! It was hard to walk down one block without a few men coming up to us and asking if we wanted suits, sunglasses, watches, or purses... all knock-off of course! It got pretty annoying after awhile!

We walked and walked for hours checking out the different markets and areas of shopping! We found a VERY authentic restaurant for lunch to have Dim Sum which is Cantonese for "light snacks." You order a bunch of things and then share with everyone at the table... sort of like tapas or hors d'oeuvres! This place was in this hotel and was all decked out in chandeliers and tacky carpet and table coverings. There was going to be a wedding Reception there later in the day for Movis & Kenneth and it was all gaudy like an 80's wedding. It looked just like a scene from "The Wedding Singer." No one in this restaurant spoke English and it was definitely interesting ordering things and not being totally sure what would come out. It turned out to be pretty good and we all ate a bunch of things and spent awhile there as each dish came out separately! When our bill came we had no idea how much to expect because the prices were not listed on the menu... it came out to be about $8 a person for a lot of food... crazy!!!! Fun experience!

We waited until it was dark to take the ferry back over and the lights were amazing from the water! We had a drink at the hotel bar and then all headed out. Kate and I to the airport to take the red-eye back to Tokyo and Damian and Bruce back to the pier to get a ferry to the ship. It was a GREAT trip, we saw a ton and did almost everything on our list and got to spend lots of quality time together. I can't wait for him to be back home with me!!!!

Hong Kong Day 4: Markets and Light Shows

We took the bus down to the southern part of Hong Kong Island to go to Stanley Market, which is one of the larger and more popular markets on Hong Kong Island. The bus ride took about 45 minutes and brought us to this village right on the water. We found a great "local" place to eat at where no one spoke English and there were no other tourists there and then we walked through the market to see what all the vendors were selling. A lot of the merchandise was pretty touristy and we didn't buy anything. It was very beautiful down there and the water looked a lot like the Mediterranean with lots of smaller islands in the distance. We walked along the boardwalk and the took the double decker bus back into the city which was an adventure in and of itself. The roads are very narrow and we all had top, front row seats on the double decker bus so the trees were hitting the windows and the turns and oncoming traffic was a little un-nerving! It was a great little ride because we got to see another side of Hong Kong Island and it was very touristy and almost a vacation spot down there!

At night we went up to the 41st floor of our hotel to a bar called 188 degrees which has amazing views of downtown Hong Kong and Kowloon. The picture does not do this city justice! The lights are more amazing and brighter than Vegas, and the building are amazing as well. Each night they do a light and laser show with all the lights of the city flashing and it is supposedly pretty awesome. It was hazy the night we watched and it was hard to see so it wasn't all that impressive. I thought the lights alone were impressive enough and they way they reflected on Victoria Harbor!

After the light show we hopped in a cab to go to the south side of the harbor to go to a super touristy restaurant called the Jumbo Floating Restaurant.... and a Jumbo Floating Restaurant it is. We got dropped off by the cab at a pier where a little water taxi took us across the water to the restaurant. We had to go past a lot of amazing yachts to get there and it was all a neat experience although the food wasn't really the best...

Hong Kong Day 3: To the Peak

On day 3 we headed to Victoria's Peak which is a major viewing point of the city and you take a tram ride to go up to the top. The tram was a lot steeper than I thought and is about a 15 minute ride to the top. Once at the tops, you have 360 degree views of the city and it was truly breathtaking! This is a major tourist attraction in Hong Kong and I was so glad we did it, the views of Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong, and the Kowloon side were amazing! At the top there was a lot of shopping and restaurants and we spent a few hours up there walking around, having lunch and taking it all in!

At night we had dinner at a really yummy Thai restaurant and then went back to the SOHO area with all the bars to meet a bunch of Damian's shipmates for a night out! On the weekends in this area they actually close the streets down so that people trickle out of the bars and into the streets and everyone just stands around in the streets drinking It was pretty neat and very chill. One thing that was very surprising was the amount of people from the US, UK, and Australia that live and work in Hong Kong. It seemed like a lot of people. It is a major business hub of the world and the economy seems to be doing pretty good there which blows my mind because of all the high end shopping! There is a lot of money in Hong Kong!

We went to a "ice bar" where is is basically a huge meat locker with ice blocks on all the walls and they give you fur coats to put on before entering the bar for drinks. We all went in and had 1 shot in there before the novelty of it all wore off and it was just plain COLD in there!The bar was called "42 Below" and it sure felt like it! It only fit about 25 people in there and people were constantly going in and out, it's not a place you would go and spend the entire night!

It was a late night but a really fun night and I think everyone had a really good time!

Hong Kong Day 2: Travelator and Happy Hours

Damian arrived off the ship around 1100 on day 2. From the ship out in Victoria Harbor they had to take a ferry ride to a pier because the ship couldn't pull in that close so it was quite a trip for him to make it to shore... about 50 minutes, then a train ride and a walk... all worth it!!! We all went and had a nice authentic noodle lunch at a place where there were barely any tourists and it was really oishii! We then walked around in the shopping area of Hong Kong, which is basically everywhere as Hong Kong is a shopping mecca! On every corner there were high end stores, it was pretty unbelievable!

We headed to the SOHO area to check out the "travelator," which is the world's longest covered escalator system. Hong Kong has some pretty rough and hilly terrain and they are creative with different and easy ways to transport people. Their subway system is extremely easy, clean and efficient, but this takes the cake for awesomeness! This travelator system covers 800 meters in distance which is about half a mile. I tis a combination of flat escalators at an incline and regular stair escalators that will take you up this very steep hill with bars/restaurants on either side! This system opened up in 1993 and is thought to assist in the commute of 55,000 people daily which was much more than they had forecasted. The travelator runs down in the AM to help with the morning commute and runs upward after around 10 AM for all other commuters. It takes about 20 minutes to go the entire distance but we ended up stopping near the top for a little Hong Kong Happy Hour fun!!!

First stop was a sake bar where I enjoyed a "Sakejito" and everyone else had beer! We worked our way down the travelator by stopping at many different places for happy hour. We went to an British pub, and then another bar down the street further. We ended our night at another bar and had some late dinner and called it an early night. It was a great way to really see the city and all the different cultures there!

Hong Kong Day 1: Choke the Chicken

I left last Tuesday evening for Hong Kong, one of the world's most interesting cities. I went with my tomodachi (friend) Kate to meet our husbands when the George Washington pulled into port there for a few days. Hong Kong which literally means "fragrant harbour" was a British colony up until 1997 when China resumed sovereignty over it. Hong Kong is a country located on the southeast coast of China, it is a little over 400 square miles and has a population close to 7 million!!! Hong Kong Island which holds about 22% of the population is only 7x9 miles! Basically there are A LOT of people in a very small space!

Around 95% of the population is Chinese in Hong Kong. A few things that I noticed that were very different from Japan were that there were a lot more people who spoke English, which was kind of nice. The people in Hong Kong were also very loud and more disorganized than the Japanese, and MUCH pushier. I literally had to throw some elbows around just to hold my own in a crowd! It is definitely interesting to see other Asian countries after having lived here for a few months now!

Ok, so the flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong was a little over 4 hours, and then we took a train and a bus to our hotel. Now, let me say that our husbands booked the hotel for us so we didn't really know what to expect.... Well, upon walking into the lobby filled with chandeliers, I felt a little bit like little orphan Annie when she first gets to Daddy Warbuck's house... "Leaping Lizards!!!!" We had been traveling for quite a few hours and were tired and we walked into this amazing 5 star hotel.... with a harpist playing in the lobby... A HARPIST! It was pretty amazing! Great job Damian!!! There was a distinct floral scent throughout the lobby area and when we asked about what it was they informed us that is was a custom made scent just for the hotel.... WOW!

Ok, so fast forward to the next morning, Kate and I walked around our Causeway Bay neighborhood to scope it out before our afternoon "Enlightenment Tour." We wandered into the REAL Hong Kong... no tourists around these parts. We came across a bunch of markets where there were lots of fruits and vegetables, but A LOT of meat and fish too! There were hearts and intestines, and whole cow hoofs just lying on table to buy... oh boy! So we get to this little market where there are whole chickens... not real sure why we wandered in, but basically people pick the chicken they want and the guy literally chokes it right there and then they take it in the back and pluck it and prepare it for the customer... oh my goodness!!!! I have never seen anything like this before. I reaffirmed my vegetarianism and I think Kate had a hard time eating chicken the rest of the trip!

We walked through Victoria Park which is a beautiful park located in the heart of Hong Kong and saw lots of people doing Tai Chi throughout which was really nice and peaceful. Next we were off to our "Enlightenment Tour!" We traveled to Lantau Island on our tour bus and on our way we could see the George Washington out in Victoria Harbor. Damian had to stay on the ship an extra day after they pulled in for duty, but it was neat to be able to see that the ship was there. We also could see the ship far off in the distance from our hotel. The first thing on the tour was to travel to the top on Lantau Island via cable car. We chose the option with the "crystal bottom" so that we could look down and see where we were going! It was a 5.7km trip up in the cable car that took about 30 minutes. It was a pretty nasty day as there was a tropical depression, but we could see parts of the South China Sea that were amazing!

The world's largest seated bronze buddha is located up on top of Lantau Island. Unfortunately because of the weather we could not even see the top, only make out the shape of the Buddha. It is a very popular spot visited by Buddhists from all over the world. This Buddha was completed in 1993 and you can go inside it and walk around. Unfortunately you can't take any pictures inside, but there are relics enshrined there! There is a monastery about 10 minutes walking distance from the buddha. It is called the Po Lin Monastery and is open to the public as it is the most popular Buddhist temple in Hong Kong. The monastery was founded in 1906 and because the large Buddha is here it is a pilgrimage site for many Buddhists. Surrounding the Buddha outside are 6 statues who are making offerings to the Buddha, this was beautiful even on a rainy day so I can only imagine how beautiful it would be on a nice sunny day!

At the Po Lin Monastery there were also many statues of buddha inside the buildings and extremely decorated each representing something different. In the main building there were 3 seated Buddhas, one representing the past, present, and the future. As the day went on, it got colder and colder and I of course was wearing flip flops expecting the traditional hot and humid Hong Kong weather. It probably didn't help that we were at the top of a mountain at about 2,500 feet above sea level on a cool and rainy day!

One more stop of the tour was the Tai O Fishing Village which is known as the "Venice of the East." This village has been mostly secluded until they have started bringing tourists here to see how they live recently and I got mixed messages from the locals about having us there. The village is mostly houses on stilts right on the water and is an olf fishing village. It was once the largest settlement on Lantau Island. It was certainly very different than the modern city of Hong Kong we had seen up to this point. You had to wind down this road with many switchbacks to get there and it was actually quite beautiful when we got there. The smell was pretty potent with FISH... I know DUH!?!? The fishing boats looked to me like the fishing boat in "Forrest Gump" and I couldn't believe that these boats were still being used. While walking through the village we mostly saw women... only a handful of men... this is because they were ALL out fishing. The women in the village are responsible for pretty much everything else while the men are out fishing each day and they work hard! It was interesting to walk down through these alleys and see people skinning fish and carrying large buckets full of fish around... I saw one lady who must have been about 125 and she was still working!!! These fish bladders were hung all throughout the shops down the streets. This is a BIG thing because they dry out the fish bladders, then when they get older and there skin becomes a little less taut and kind of hangy, they put the fish bladders in a pot of water and make a soup that they drink. The fish bladders are extremely high in collagen which helps with the elasticity of the skin... so interesting, but I'm certainly not about to have any fish bladder soup anytime soon... I'll take the wrinkles! This woman was selling almond cookies and wanted to give us all samples so I took one and it was a hot a delicious cookie, and she wanted me to buy a whole package of them and when I walked away I am pretty sure she was cursing at me in Chinese... so I eventually made my way back towards her shop and bought the cookies... they were pretty worth the $3!!!

A very long first day, but it went by fast and we headed back to our 5-star hotel for a good rest before we met our husbands in the AM!

Japanese word of the day:
Tomodachi (toe-moe-da-chee): Friend