In my head I'm thinking why is Damian jumping on the bed at 0530... then I open my eyes and realize it's just another earthquake. Nothing like waking up to a 4.7 earthquake on Sunday morning... so much for sleeping in! Everyone says that you get used to the house shaking, but I'm thinking I probably won't! Damian has duty on the ship all day and will be back tomorrow morning- the good news is that tomorrow is Labor Day so he has the day off and we can spend the day together!
Yesterday, Damian had to go to the ship for a few hours in the morning to work and then we went out exploring Yokosuka together! We headed down the street off the base and got new cell phones... VERY basic because we are really only going to call each other! The guy who helped us was super nice and his English was impeccable (thank goodness)! We got on some sort of Japanese family plan so we can talk to each other all we want and then only 60 minutes to share for the month... this shouldn't be a problem here! The one thing I will miss is texting... I already miss it! It will be weird to come home in a few years and text again!!!
We made a stop at the 100 Yen store!!!! Woooohooooo.... this is sort of like the dollar store but because the US dollar isn't worth much here it is actually like the $1.30 store... still a GREAT deal! Big purchases of the day were these little washcloth like towels that everyone carries around to wipe the sweat from their face/neck/chest... They are also good if using a public restroom and there is no where to dry your hands after washing them! Anyway... I never thought I would be one of those people who excessively sweat and had to wipe themselves down in public, but welcome to Japan, the humidity capital of the world! This was a pretty good 100 Yen store... they had a little bit of everything!
Next stop, one of the many thrift stores Japan has to offer... Damian got a new belt, and I got a t-shirt and scarf! We went into lots of other stores in the area as well just checking out what they have and to keep in mind that we don't have to buy everything on base! One thing we were specifically looking for were 3/4 pants for Damian... before you judge let me explain. There is a stigma here in Japan associated with tattoos. The Japanese Mafia (Yokuza) are heavily tattooed as a ritual and many Japanese associate tattoos with being affiliated with the Yokuza. Many water parks and hot springs go to the extreme of banning visitors with any tattoos that cannot be covered. So... as most of you know Damian is somewhat heavily tattooed and the ones on his legs show when he wears shorts. It is way to hot for him to wear jeans or long pants right now so we thought some 3/4 length pants may solve the problem temporarily. As we walked around yesterday, I noticed many Japanese staring at his legs!!! Also, in my intercultural class last week they told us if we are interested in going to some of the many hot springs Japan has to offer to come see them in the office and they will call first to see if they will let us in because it is possible we could get all the way there and be turned away because of tattoos. Very interesting and good to know!
We stopped at a Ramen place on the way home and had very yummy noodles and Sapporo beer... YUM! I was told by someone it was a good place to go, and it was, but Damian said there were too many Americans there and that next time he wants to go where there are more Japanese! I see his point, but I also like the menu being in English to some extent and me being able to ask the waiter to leave the pork out of mine! My Japanese is coming along, but it's a slow process. It was all very delicious and after dinner we headed back home for a quiet movie night... The Fighter.
All right, I'm off to entertain myself for the day... Thanks for reading!!! :)
Japanese word of the day:
Omizu: Water
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